From: skunk-works-digest-owner@harbor.ecn.purdue.edu To: skunk-works-digest@harbor.ecn.purdue.edu Subject: Skunk Works Digest V4 #33 Reply-To: skunk-works-digest@harbor.ecn.purdue.edu Errors-To: skunk-works-digest-owner@harbor.ecn.purdue.edu Precedence: bulk Skunk Works Digest Saturday, 9 October 1993 Volume 04 : Number 033 In this issue: Blackbird losses - page 4 Blackbird losses - page 3 Blackbird losses - page 2 Blackbird losses - page 1 F-117 Bomb Bay 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: albert.dobyns@mwbbs.com (Albert Dobyns) Date: Fri, 8 Oct 93 00:58:00 -0500 Subject: Blackbird losses - page 4 ........................................................................ . 64-17970 . SR-71A . . 4 . ......................... ..... . Lost on 17 June 1970 following a post-tanking collision with the . . KC-135 tanker. Lt Col "Buddy" L. Brown and his RSO Maj Mortimer . . Javis ejected safely although both legs of the pilot were broken. . . The SR-71 crashed 20 miles east of El Paso, Texas, but the KC-135 . . limped back to Beale AFB with a damaged fin. . . . ........................................................................ . 64-17974 . SR-71A . . ......................... . . This aircraft was lost on 21 April 1989 over the South China Sea . . and is the last loss of any Blackbird as of December 1991. Pilot . . Lt Col Dan House said the left engine blew up and shrapnel from . . it hit the right-side hydraulic lines, causing a loss of flight . . controls. House and RSO Blair Bozek ejected and came down safely . . in the ocean. They had been able to broadcast their position . . before abandoning the Blackbird, and rescue forces were immediately . . on the way. However the crew were rescued by native fisherman. . . The local chieftain's new throne is Colonel House's ejection seat! . . . ........................................................................ . 64-17977 . SR-71A . . ......................... . . This aircraft ended its career in flames by skidding 1000 feet off . . the end of runway 14 at Beale on 10 October 1968. The takeoff was . . aborted when a wheel assembly failed. Major James A. Kogler was . . ordered to eject, but pilot Major Gabriel Kardong elected to stay . . with the aircraft. Both officers survived. . . . ........................................................................ . 64-17978 . SR-71A . . ......................... . . Nicknamed the "Rapid Rabbit", this aircraft was written off on . . 20 July 1972 during the roll out phase of its landing. The pilot, . . Captain Dennis K. Bush, had practised a rapid deploy-jettison of . . the braking parachute. A go-around was initiated after the chute . . was jettisoned. On the next landing attempt, the aircraft touched . . down slightly "hot" but had no chute to reduce the aircraft's . . speed. The pilot was unable to keep the plane on the runway. A . . wheel truck hit a concrete barrier. The aircraft suffered signif- . . icant damage. The pilot and the RSO, Captian James W. Fagg, . . escaped without injury. . . . ........................................................................ . . . A total of 20 Lockheed Blackbirds have been lost due to a variety . . of accidents; however, not one was shot down by unfriendly forces! . . Broken down by type: . . A-12 M-12 YF-12 SR-71A SR-71B SR-71C . . No. of aircraft built: 13 2 3 29 2 1 . . No. of aircraft lost: 5 1 2* 11 1 0 . . . . * - SR-71C (64-17981) was built using the read half of YF-12A . . 60-6934 (rear half) and functional engineering mockup of the . . SR-71A forward fuselage. . . . . Last updated 01 September 1993 . . . ........................................................................ printed copies available upon request. - ---- MidWest BBS - 708-513-1034 -ILINK Charter Member, UsMail Regional Hub, Usenet ------------------------------ From: albert.dobyns@mwbbs.com (Albert Dobyns) Date: Fri, 8 Oct 93 00:56:00 -0500 Subject: Blackbird losses - page 3 ........................................................................ . 64-17953 . SR-71A . . 3 . ......................... ..... . This aircraft was lost on 18 December 1969 after an inflight . . explosion and subsequent high-speed stall. Lt Col Joe Rogers and . . RSO Lt Col Garry Heidelbaugh ejected safely. The precise cause . . of the explosion has never be determined. The incident occurred . . near Shoshone, California. . . . ........................................................................ . 64-17954 . SR-71A . . ......................... . . This aircraft was demolished on 11 April 1969 under circumstances . . similar to 64-17950. New aluminum wheels and stronger tires with . . a beefed up compound were retrofitted to all SR-71's. Lt Col Bill . . Skliar and his RSO Major Noel Warner managed to escape uninjured. . . . ........................................................................ . 64-17957 . SR-71B . . ......................... . . This aircraft was the second SR-71B built for the Air Force. It . . crashed on approach to Beale on 11 January 1968 when instructor . . pilot Lt Col Robert G. Sowers and his "student" Captain David E. . . Fruehauf were forced to eject about 7 miles from Beale after all . . control was lost. The plane had suffered a double generator . . failure followed by a double flameout (caused by fuel cavitation) . . and pancaked upside down in a farmer's field. . . . ........................................................................ . 64-17965 . SR-71A . . ......................... . . This aircraft was lost on 25 October 1967 after an INS platform . . failed, leading to erroneous attitude information being displayed . . in the cockpit. During a night flight, the INS gyro had tumbled. . . There were no warning lights to alert pilot Captain Roy L. St. . . Martin and RSO Captain John F Carnochan. In total darkness, in a . . steep dive and no external visual references available, the crew . . had little alternative. They were able to eject safely. The . . incident occurred near Lovelock, Nevada. . . . ........................................................................ . 64-17966 . SR-71A . . ......................... . . Lost on the evening of 13 April 1967 after the aircraft entered a . . subsonic, high-speed stall. Pilot Captain Earle M. Boone and RSO . . Captain Richard E. Sheffield ejected safely. The incident occurred . . near Las Vegas, Nevada. . . . ........................................................................ . 64-17969 . SR-71A . . ......................... . . Lost on 10 May 1970 during an operational mission, from Kadena, . . against North Vietnam. Shortly after air-refueling, the pilot, . . Major William E. Lawson initiated a normal full power climb. . . Stretching before him was a solid bank of cloud containing heavy . . thunderstorm activity which reached above 45,000'. Heavy with . . fuel, the aircraft was unable to maintain a high rate of climb, . . and as it entered turbulence both engines flamed out. The RPM . . dropped to a level too low for restarting the engines. Pilot . . and RSO, Major Gilbert Martinez ejected safely after the aircraft . . stalled. The plane crashed near Korat RTAFB, Thailand. . . . ........................................................................ - ---- MidWest BBS - 708-513-1034 -ILINK Charter Member, UsMail Regional Hub, Usenet ------------------------------ From: albert.dobyns@mwbbs.com (Albert Dobyns) Date: Fri, 8 Oct 93 00:54:00 -0500 Subject: Blackbird losses - page 2 ........................................................................ . 60-6934 . YF-12A . . 2 . ........................ ..... . This aircraft, the 1st YF-12A, was seriously damaged on 14 August . . 1966 during a landing accident at Edwards AFB. The rear half . . was later used to build the SR-71C (64-17981) which flew for the . . first time on March 14 1969. . . . ........................................................................ . 60-6936 . YF-12A . . ........................ . . This aircraft, the third YF-12A, was lost on 24 June 1971 in an . . accident at Edwards AFB. Lt Col Ronald J Layton and systems . . operator William A Curtis were approaching the traffic pattern . . when a fire broke out due to a fuel line fracture caused by metal . . fatigue. The flames quickly enveloped the entire aircraft and on . . the base leg both crewmembers ejected. '936 was totally destroyed. . . . ........................................................................ . 60-6939 . A-12 . . ........................ . . This aircraft was lost on approach to Groom Lake on 9 July 1964 . . following a Mach 3 check flight. On approach, the flight controls . . locked up, and Lockheed test pilot Bill Park was forced to eject . . at an altitude of 200 feet in a 45 degree bank angle! . . . ........................................................................ . 60-6941 . M-12 . . ........................ . . This was the second A-12 to be converted to an M-12 for launching . . the D-21 reconnaissance drone. During a flight test on 30 July . . 1966 for launching the drone, the drone pitched down and struck . . the M-12, breaking it in half. Pilot Bill Park and LCO (Launch . . Control Officer) Ray Torick stayed with the plane a short time . . before ejecting over the Pacific Ocean. Both made safe ejections, . . but Ray Torick drowned before he could be rescued. This terrible . . personal and professional loss drove "Kelly" Johnson to cancel the . . M-12/D-21 program. . . . ........................................................................ . 64-17950 . SR-71A . . ......................... . . The prototype SR-71 was lost on 10 January 1967 at Edwards during . . an anti-skid braking system evaluation. The main undercarriage . . tires blew out and the resulting fire in the magnesium wheels . . spread to the rest of the aircraft as it ran off the end of the . . runway. Lockheed test pilot Art Peterson survived. . . . ........................................................................ . 64-17952 . SR-71A . . ......................... . . This aircraft disintegrated on 25 January 1966 during a high-speed, . . high-altitude test flight when it developed a severe case of engine . . unstart. Lockheed test pilot Bill Weaver survived although his . . ejection seat never left the plane! RSO (Reconnaissance System . . Officer) Jim Zwayer died in a high-G bailout. The incident occurred . . near Tucumcari, New Mexico. . . . ........................................................................ - ---- MidWest BBS - 708-513-1034 -ILINK Charter Member, UsMail Regional Hub, Usenet ------------------------------ From: albert.dobyns@mwbbs.com (Albert Dobyns) Date: Fri, 8 Oct 93 00:53:00 -0500 Subject: Blackbird losses - page 1 ........................................................................ . . 1 . . If you've ever wondered about the Lockheed A-12, YF-12, SR-71 ..... . planes that were lost, this list is for you! The information . . in this list is a combination of information in four books: . . AEROFAX MINIGRAPH 1 SR-71 (A-12/YF-12/D-21) by Jay Miller . . LOCKHEED SR-71 THE SECRET MISSIONS EXPOSED Paul F Crickmore . . LOCKHEED SR-71 BLACKBIRD also by Paul F Crickmore . . LOCKHEED BLACKBIRDS by Anthony Thornborough and Peter Davies. . . All aircraft are listed by their original Air Force serial numbers. . . . ........................................................................ . 60-6926 . A-12 . . ........................ . . This was the second A-12 to fly but the first to crash. On 24 May . . 1963, CIA pilot Ken Collins was flying an inertial navigation . . system test mission. After entering clouds, frozen water fouled . . the pitot-static boom and prevented correct information from reach- . . ing the standby flight instruments and the Triple Display Indicator.. . The aircraft subsequently entered a stall and control was lost com- . . pletely followed by the onset of an inverted flat spin. The pilot . . ejected safely. The wreckage was recovered in two days and persons . . at the scene were indentified and requested to sign secrecy . . agreements. A cover story for the press described the accident as . . occurring to an F-105, and is still listed in this way on official . . records. . ........................................................................ . 60-6928 . A-12 . . ........................ . . This aircraft was lost on 5 January 1967 during a training sortie . . flown from Groom Lake. Following the onset of a fuel emergency . . caused by a failing fuel gauge, the aircraft ran out of fuel only . . minutes before landing. CIA pilot Walter Ray was forced to eject. . . Unfortunately the ejection seat man-seat separation sequence . . malfunctioned, and Ray was killed on impact with the ground, . . still strapped to his seat. . . . ........................................................................ . 60-6929 . A-12 . . ........................ . . This aircraft was lost on 28 December 1967 seven seconds into an . . FCF (Functional Check Flight) from Groom Lake performed by CIA . . pilot Mel Vojvodich. The SAS (Stability Augmentation System) had . . been incorrectly wired up, and the pilot was unable to control the . . aircraft 100 feet above the runway. The pilot ejected safely. A . . similar accident occurred when the first production Lockheed F-117 . . was flown on 20 April 1982 by Bill Park. It's control system had . . been hooked up incorrectly. Bill Park survived the accident but . . had injuries serious enough to remove him from flight status. . . . ........................................................................ . 60-6932 . A-12 . . ........................ . . This aircraft was lost in the South China Sea on 5 June 1968. CIA . . pilot Jack Weeks was flying what was to be the last operational . . A-12 mission from the overseas A-12 base at Kadena AB, Okinawa. . . The loss was due to an inflight emergency, and the pilot did not . . survive. Once again the official news release identified the lost . . aircraft as an SR-71 and security was maintained. A few days later . . the two remaining planes on Okinawa flew to the US and were stored . . with the remainder of the OXCART family. . . . ........................................................................ - ---- MidWest BBS - 708-513-1034 -ILINK Charter Member, UsMail Regional Hub, Usenet ------------------------------ From: TOM PETRISKO <0004343121@mcimail.com> Date: Fri, 8 Oct 93 14:28 GMT Subject: F-117 Bomb Bay In the August issue of American Legion magazine they have a picture of the F-117 being loaded with two bombs. It shows the bombs hooked to the bomb rack. What I noticed is that there is no bomb bay doors hanging down. Does this mean that it possibly uses sliding bomb bay doors. Tom ------------------------------ End of Skunk Works Digest V4 #33 ******************************** 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". If you want to subscribe something other than the account the mail is coming from, such as a local redistribution list, then append that address to the "subscribe" command; for example, to subscribe "local-skunk-works": subscribe skunk-works-digest local-skunk-works@your.domain.net To unsubscribe, send mail to the same address, with the command: unsubscribe skunk-works-digest in the body. Administrative requests, problems, and other non-list mail can be sent to either "skunk-works-digest-owner@harbor.ecn.purdue.edu" or, if you don't like to type a lot, "prm@ecn.purdue.edu". 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