From: skunk-works-digest-owner@harbor.ecn.purdue.edu To: skunk-works-digest@harbor.ecn.purdue.edu Subject: Skunk Works Digest V2 #39 Reply-To: skunk-works-digest@harbor.ecn.purdue.edu Errors-To: skunk-works-digest-owner@harbor.ecn.purdue.edu Precedence: bulk Skunk Works Digest Thursday, 24 December 1992 Volume 02 : Number 039 In this issue: Re: A-12/SR-71 stuff Re: A-12/SR-71 stuff Re: A-12/SR-71 stuff (Part II) New Stealth Project?????? New Stealth Project???? Project SLEIGH Re: New Stealth Project???? Re: A-12/SR-71 stuff (Part II) Re: A-12/SR-71 stuff (Part II) A-12/SR-71 stuff See the end of the digest for information on subscribing to the skunk-works or skunk-works-digest mailing lists and on how to retrieve back issues. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: dnadams@nyx.cs.du.edu (Dean Adams) Date: Wed, 23 Dec 92 07:02:20 MST Subject: Re: A-12/SR-71 stuff From: davem@ee.ubc.ca (Dave Michelson) >1. "In 1964, the USAF requested an intercepter version of the A-12 >called the YF-12A. This request was actually a CIA-sponsored cover >for secret operation of the A-12." How would publically >announcing the YF-12A cover secret operation of the A-12? Another possibilty is that the YF-12 could help provide some "cover" for the ongoing A-12 follow-on development programs which lead to the M-12 and the SR-71... >2. "Another version, called the R-12, was to be a bomber armed with >nuclear weapons carried in three fuselage weapons bays. However, this >version was never built." >What does the R designation mean? Why not B? That sounds like the old "RS-71" concept (Recce/strike). >3. "With the low infrared and low RCS of the SR-71, there is one Hmmm... I don't think i've ever heard anyone refer to the business end of a J-58 as having a low-IR signature. This is a HOT plane all around. :-) > Lockheed engineers, in cooperation with other industries, have developed >a high-temperature-resistant ceramic/plastic that is totally opaque at >[the temperatures experienced at] low speeds, but that turn totally trans- >parent [at the temperatures experienced] above Mach 2.6 and does not >cause any distortion of the images of the camera systems on the SR-71. I always expected they used either a similar heat resistant glass as in the cockpit, or some sort of crystalline type material. >These ceramic material apertures appear on the bottom of the SR-71's chin >areas forward, and appear as white patches in photographs." That sounds to me more like a "window" for a SAR package... - -dean ------------------------------ From: dnadams@nyx.cs.du.edu (Dean Adams) Date: Wed, 23 Dec 92 08:05:45 MST Subject: Re: A-12/SR-71 stuff larry@ichips.intel.com writes: > ... How the D-21 drones were discovered doesn't help matters any > either (they were accidently discovered by aircraft enthusiasts > not disclosed by announcement). Yep... and what a fateful and lucky event that was! Here is a little narrative: In 1976 a group of aviation enthusiasts were touring the MASDEC facility at Davis Monthan AFB where obsolete aircraft are salvaged, and surplus aircraft are stored until needed. In a back corner of the storage area they came upon a group of black dart-shaped craft sitting on dollies. Awestruck by the futuristic vehicles that none of them had ever seen or heard about, they inquired with their guide about the possibility of photographing them. Previously, the vehicles had been covered with tarps but a wind storm had removed these and they now sat in the hot burning sun. The guide gave his approval, not knowing the delicate nature of the vehicles. Within a short time every major aviation publication had run an article on this previously totally unknown drone that we now know as the Lockheed GTD-21B. One other note... In 1976 there were 19 D-21s at MASDEC, which may have only been the overflow from another storage site, but by 1982 this number was down to 17 vehicles. I don't recall if there has been a more recent exact count, but there is definitely still a good number of them there. >There are a lot of questions about A-12 #937. That airplane will be going >to the new Evergreen Air Museum (the Spruce Goose is already here) >in McMinneville Oregon once it gets restored by Evergreen Air in Arizona. The answer that makes the most sense to me is that NASA simply "borrowed" that old A-12 tail number to stick on SR-71 #951... perhaps under AF orders for security reasons. It would have been a lot easier for them to just say "NASA is testing with three YF-12s", rather than having to start explaining all about the SR-71. - -dean ------------------------------ From: mangan@Kodak.COM (Paul Mangan) Date: Wed, 23 Dec 92 10:51:49 EST Subject: Re: A-12/SR-71 stuff (Part II) > > >What does the R designation mean? Why not B? > > I can't answer the R designation question, heck, what does the 'A' in A-12 > mean (Ben Rich and another Lockheed person who worked that program has > said that it meant Archangel (U-2 was Angel), others have said it means > Article) but there have been many rumors about an armed recon. or even a strike Somewhere I read the following designations: A Attack A7, FA-18 B Bomber B1, B2 C Cargo C-141 D Drone D-21 E Electronic (warfare) E3, EF111 F Fighter F15 H Helicopter UH-1, AH-1W K tanKer KC-135 L Light(weight) LH-15 M Missile AIM-9 P Patrol (Pursuit) P-3 (P-38) R Reconnaissance SR-71 S Special (and several other designations) SR-71 T Trainer (??) T-38, T-45 (TR-1, TR-3) U Universal (unknown and other) U-2, U-3a V Vetical V-22 X eXperimental X-31, X-1a, X-15 Y developement (don't know where the Y comes from) YF-22, YF23, YF-13 Please fill in the gaps or inaccuracies. Paul > > ------------------------------ From: "JOE P." Date: 23 Dec 1992 13:32:19 -0500 (EST) Subject: New Stealth Project?????? ------------------------------ From: "JOE P." Date: 23 Dec 1992 13:36:09 -0500 (EST) Subject: New Stealth Project???? Can any Skunkers confirm or debunk the following rumors regarding a new air transpoprtation system which seems to be undergoing a test series of flights this week (while attention is diverted elsewwhere.) I have heard from several usually unreliable sources that there seems to be a super secret base located in the upper regions of Canada near the formerly Soviet Air Defense zone. This base is charged with developing a special long range, high cargo capability, rapid deployment, energy efficent, and very STEALTHY transport vehicle. The term I have heard is Stealth Light Enhanced Intrusion General Hauler. There have been numerous but so far totally unconfirmable reports that this vehicle has been able to be picked up on radar systems of all types throughout the world. There have also been reports of a similar nature filed by pilots of all types of aircraft of visual sightings. This list speicically includes military air defense systems. (In fact, while stationed at a radar site in eastern Iceland, as an AC&W radar maintenance tech, I witnessed a track which originated in the far north which seemed to follow this flight profile. The operations people tried to say that what they saw had to be a radar training simulator HOWEVER we swore that we were NOT running any simulations that night.) The pertient facts which seem to be consistent among most sightings are: The vehicle can selectivley decide to be spotted or not. Pilot appears to have selectable stealth features. The flight path ALWAYS seems to originate in the far north. The flight profile seems to be ESPECIALLY common in late December. (Long artic nights providsing cover perhaps?) A loud unique sound signature in often heard. Most often it is reported as sounding like "HO HO HO HO HO". A radio intercept seems to have picked up the following call signs, transmitted in the clear, "On Dasher, On Dancer". On those occasions when the aircraft has been visually spotted, the pilot appears to be wearing a unique pressure/survival suit. This suit is always reported to be red in color with a large full face pressure mask. It is thought that there might be special equipment located under the suit in the waist region because of the large quivery mass seen in that area. The propulsion unit seems to be some type or organicanly fueled reinjet. There are most often eight propulsion units in use. Although there have been numerous reports of a reddish glow emminating from a ninth unit located at the nose of the aircraft. This could possibly be some type of infra-red guidance/targeting unit. This craft is appearently capable of hypersonic velocity (or else there are several squadrons operational) because of the large areas of the entire world which seem to report sightings almost identical in time/profile. The craft seems to have a two point landing system and requires minimal ground support (most often cookie crumbs and a white liquid resideu are sometimes seen in areas or reported sightings). The next wave of sightings are expected late thursday evening of this week. (The so-called Washington office hours scedule???). More sightings are expected next year at the same time. If you have more reports/info please forward it to: Project SLEIGH C/O Maj. Gen. S. Nicholas Internet polenorth@scvillage.elve.np alais santashome.np ------------------------------ From: kuryakin@bcstec.ca.boeing.com (Rick Pavek) Date: Wed, 23 Dec 92 11:27:31 PST Subject: Project SLEIGH I assume the contrail signature is reindeer-on-a-rope? Of course, since the vehicle has been seen to drop square, ballistic objects, it must be have a strike mission as well as cargo... Rick "Merry Christmas" Pavek ------------------------------ From: freeman@MasPar.COM (Jay R. Freeman) Date: Wed, 23 Dec 92 11:43:56 -0800 Subject: Re: New Stealth Project???? Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the skys Air defenses were up, with electronic eyes. Combat pilots were nestled in ready-room beds As enemy silhouettes danced in their heads. Every jet on the apron, each SAM in its tube Was triply-redundant linked to the Blue Cube, And ElInt and AWACS gave coverage so dense That nothing that flew could slip through our defense. When out of the klaxon arose such a clatter I turned to the screen to see what was the matter; I dialed up the gain and then quick as a flash Fine-adjusted the filters to damp out the hash. And there found the source of the warning we'd heeded: An incoming blip, by eight escorts preceded. "Alert status red!" went the word down the wire, As we gave every system the codes that meant "FIRE"! On Aegis! Up Patriot, Phalanx and Hawk! And scramble our fighters -- let's send the whole flock! Launch decoys and missiles! Use chaff by the yard! Get the kitchen sink up! Call the National Guard! They turned toward the target, moved toward it, converged. Then the tracks on the radar all finally merged, And the sky was lit up with a demonic light As the foe met his fate in the high arctic night. So we sent out some recon to look for debris, Yet all that they found, both on land and on sea Were some toys, a red hat, a charred left leather boot, Broken sleighbells, white hair, and a deer's parachute. Now it isn't quite Christmas, with Saint Nick shot down. There are unhappy kids in each village and town. For the Spirit of Christmas can't hope to evade All the web of defenses we've carefully made. For look how the gadgets we use to protect us In other ways alter, transform and affect us. They keep us from things that make life more worth living Like love for each other, and thoughts of just giving. But a crash program's on: Working hard, night and day, All the elves are constructing a radar-proof sleigh. So let's wait for next Christmas, in cheer and in health, For the future has hope: Santa's coming by stealth! -- Jay Freeman ------------------------------ From: mike@shower.rain.com (Michael Heggen) Date: Wed, 23 Dec 92 12:56:31 PST Subject: Re: A-12/SR-71 stuff (Part II) larry@ichips.intel.com writes: > > There are a lot of questions about A-12 #937. That airplane will be going > to the new Evergreen Air Museum (the Spruce Goose is already here) > in McMinneville Oregon once it gets restored by Evergreen Air in Arizona. Well, the Goose isn't *quite* there.... The fuselage is parked about 1000 feet off the Yamhill River near McMinnville ad will stay there for a few weeks. The wings are still up in Vancouver, Washington, but should be barged upriver to the same location within the next few weeks. I'm not sure where the tail and stabilizer is right now. The other little detail that Evergreen doesn't mention that often (but the local media do) is that they have not raised the funds necessary to build the museum in McMinnville. In fact, they still do not have a place to put the Goose, let alone an A-12. Hopefully it will all actually happen. Evergreen has some very ambitious plans that I would love to see completed. - -- Michael Heggen "An expert is a person who avoids the small errors while sweeping on to the grand fallacy." --Weinberg's Corollary to Murphy's Computer Law ------------------------------ From: megazone@wpi.WPI.EDU (B Bikowicz) Date: Wed, 23 Dec 1992 21:07:11 -0500 (EST) Subject: Re: A-12/SR-71 stuff (Part II) Once upon a time Paul Mangan shaped the electrons to say... >P Patrol (Pursuit) P-3 (P-38) The Pursuit designator was dropped many years ago, becomming F for fighter, All recent 'P' designators are Patrol... >S Special (and several other designations) SR-71 The only aircraft I can think of with 'S' is the SR-71 where it was Strategic Recon... For the RS-70, and RS-71 dropped designators it was strike. >T Trainer (??) T-38, T-45 (TR-1, TR-3) I believe that T is Tactical in use with TR's Tactical Recon... >U Universal (unknown and other) U-2, U-3a Utility. The UH-1 Huey ahem Iroquois is Utility Helicopter 1, the black Hawk is Utility Helicopter - 60.... >Y developement (don't know where the Y comes from) YF-22, YF23, YF-13 I believe that it is simply one step beyond X... the second B-52 was the YB-52 while the first was XB-52... the YF-16 and YF-17 were supposedly called such due to the high use of 'off the shelf' tech so that they were not considered experimental. M is for special mission aircraft... MC-130, MH-60, MH-53, MH-47 etc.... Oh, and D for Drone is also used for motherships... the DC-130 was a Drone carrying version(s) of the C-130.... ############################################################################### # I have one prejudice, and that is against stupidity. Use your mind, think! # #Email megazone@wpi.wpi.edu Moderator, WPI anime FTP site 130.215.24.1 /anime# ############################################################################### ------------------------------ From: megazone@wpi.WPI.EDU (B Bikowicz) Date: Wed, 23 Dec 1992 21:14:45 -0500 (EST) Subject: A-12/SR-71 stuff Once upon a time Dave Michelson shaped the electrons to say... >How would publically announcing the YF-12A cover secret operation of the A-12? If people started asking questions about what Lockheed was doing, or what the high speed aircraft were, the blame would be put on the YF-12. The YF-12 was a red herring for the public. >What does the R designation mean? Why not B? That I don't know. I have seen several references to a strike Blackbird, and it was originally RS-71 for Recon Strike. But I've never seen the R-12 explained. >Does this material really exist? I have seen many photos of the Blackbird with creamy opaque areas under the nose and chines. These would seem to be what is being described, and the material is certainly feasible. There are many compounds whose refractive index changes with temperature. ############################################################################### # I have one prejudice, and that is against stupidity. Use your mind, think! # #Email megazone@wpi.wpi.edu Moderator, WPI anime FTP site 130.215.24.1 /anime# ############################################################################### ------------------------------ End of Skunk Works Digest V2 #39 ******************************** To subscribe to skunk-works-digest, send the command: subscribe skunk-works-digest in the body of a message to "listserv@harbor.ecn.purdue.edu". 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