About This File
FS2002/FS2004 Lockheed A-12 Black Bird. The Lockheed A12 was designed in the late 1950s for the CIA as a follow-on to the U-2 under a program codename "Oxcart". The aircraft first flew from Groom Lake on 26 April 1962 piloted by Lou Schalk. The aircraft was designed to directly overfly a target, as opposed to 'standing-off' a target and taking oblique photographs. A variety of different cameras could be carried in the 'Q' bay immediately behind the pilot. A variety of ECM packages were carried in the chine bays. The A-12 Blackbird remains the fastest, highest flying plane ever built and achieved a speed of Mach 3.35 and a height of 95,000 feet. By Kazunori Ito.