File A121-R-60-6930A-12Article 127

60-6930

A-12 · Article 127
On displayHuntsville, Alabama

U.S. Space & Rocket Center
Huntsville, Alabama, USA · 34.71, -86.65

A-12 60-6930 on display at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center, Huntsville, Alabama, in 1999, when it was marked with the incorrect serial 7930.
A-12 60-6930 on display at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center, Huntsville, Alabama, in 1999, when it was marked with the incorrect serial 7930.Niels Elgaard Larsen · 1999 · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Source

Record

60-6930
127
A-12
499.2
1963
Preserved, on display
U.S. Space & Rocket Center, Huntsville, Alabama, USA

Career

  • One of the three BLACK SHIELD aircraft at Kadena; flown there by Jack Layton in May 1967
  • Flew 10 of the 29 BLACK SHIELD missions (tally from the CIA mission table)
  • Flew the last operational A-12 reconnaissance mission, over North Korea, in May 1968 (mission BX6858, pilot Jack Layton)
  • In October 1966 flew for 7 hours 40 minutes, then the longest A-12 flight
  • 258 flights

Fate

Returned from Kadena after BLACK SHIELD and stored at Palmdale; dedicated at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center on 1 February 1991 and repainted in 2017.

In the chronology

22 May 1967BLACK SHIELD: A-12s deploy to Kadena OXCART
After President Johnson approved deployment at his 16 May 1967 Tuesday lunch, Article 131 (60-6937) flew nonstop from Nevada to Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, in 6 hours 6 minutes on 22 May, followed by Article 127 (60-6930) on 24 May and Article 129 (60-6932), which diverted to Wake Island and arrived on 27 May. The 1129th Special Activities Squadron, Detachment 1, under Col. Hugh Slater, was ready for operations on 29 May.
8 May 1968Last A-12 operational mission OXCART
Jack Layton flew Article 127 (60-6930) on the final BLACK SHIELD sortie, a two-pass mission over North Korea that found no sign of a military buildup. A-12s flew 29 operational missions in all from Kadena: 24 over North Vietnam, two over Cambodia, Laos and the DMZ, and three over North Korea.

Where the record disagrees

Date of the last operational mission: CIA Archangel says 6 May 1968 in a photo caption and that the 8 May sortie 'would be its last' in the text. The museum says it first flew in 1963 (no day given). Archangel's phrase 'one week after its first flight' for the Oct 1966 endurance flight conflicts with a 1963 first flight and may refer to a return to flight.

Sources

  1. Central Intelligence Agency, Center for the Study of Intelligence. Archangel: CIA's Supersonic A-12 Reconnaissance Aircraft (David Robarge, 2nd ed.; includes 'Inventory of A-12s' table, p. 50). Open · Archived · In the register
  2. Roadrunners Internationale (OXCART veterans association). Lockheed A-12 Blackbird Survivors. Open · Archived · In the register
  3. U.S. Space & Rocket Center. Aircraft: A-12, Article 127, Oxcart. Archived copy · In the register
  4. Wikipedia. Lockheed A-12 (aircraft table and accidents list). Open · Archived · In the register