Description:
The Lockheed SR-71 was developed from the the Central Intelligence Agency funded A-12 reconnaissance aircraft program. Basic design concepts for the A-12 were set in 1959 as a follow-up to the U-2 Spyplane. The "Article" - as the A-12 was known by insiders - first flew on April 26, 1962 from a secret test site known as Area 51 located at Groom Lake, Nevada. By late 1964 a number of all black CIA A-12's were flying operational and clandestine spy missions.
The SR-71, tailored to expanded U.S. Air Force needs, was ordered in December of 1962 and flew for the first time on December 22, 1964 from Palmdale, California. Development and production continued and on January 7, 1966 the Blackbird joined the USAF in operational inventory at Beale AFB in California. Optional parts to build either the SR-71A or the SR-71B "humpback" trainer are included.
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