From The Archives: NASA’s YF-12s - 55 Years Ago In Aviation Week

The cover of Aviation Week & Space Technology’s Sept. 6, 1971, issue featured one of the two NASA YF-12 aircraft then in existence being refueled from a U.S. Air Force KC-135 tanker 21,000 ft. over Trona, California. 

The pair were leased by NASA from the Air Force for research flights to obtain data on aircraft structures and performance at sustained speeds of Mach 3 at altitudes around 75,000 ft. The YF-12 pilot on this flight was Fitzhugh Fulton, Jr. 

Based on the A-12 reconnaissance aircraft, the YF-12 was developed in the1960s as a high-altitude interceptor to defend against supersonic bombers and was the forerunner of the SR-71 Blackbird. 

The first of three YF-12s flew in August 1963, and the small fleet would go on to set several records (later surpassed by the SR-71), including a speed record of 2,070.101 mph and an altitude record of 80,257.65 ft. 

The program formally ended in early 1968, with high costs, the war in Vietnam, and other spending priorities cited as contributors to the cancellation. 

NASA photo by Robert Rhine.

See the cover and read the full issue dated September 6 1971 | Aviation Week

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