From The Archives: YF-12 Flies NASA Research Mission With F-104 Chase Aircraft

The cover of Aviation Week & Space Technology’s Aug. 3, 1970, issue features a NASA Flight Research Center YF-12 over the Mojave desert prior to landing at Edwards AFB, California, following an instrument calibration flight. 

The chase plane was a NASA NF-104. The flight was part of Phase 1 of a NASA-U.S. Air Force high-performance aircraft test program. Lockheed built the Mach 3+ capable, high-altitude interceptor prototype, which set and held speed and altitude world records of over 2,000 mph and over 80,000 ft.—records later surpassed by the SR-71 Blackbird. 

Photo by Victor Horton, NASA flight test engineer and crewman in the program.

August 3 1970 | Aviation Week

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