Key Points - The A-12 Oxcart, developed by Lockheed's Skunk Works for the CIA in the early 1960s, was the single-seat, Mach 3.29 (at 90,000 feet) precursor to the USAF's more famous SR-71 Blackbird.

The SR-71 is perhaps the most iconic Cold War spy aircraft, famous for many record-setting flights. Seemingly impervious to loss by enemy defenses, a dozen Blackbirds were lost to accidents.

The A-12 force kept flying successfully, but was retired in 1968, when the SR-71 Blackbird took its place. Of the final 15 A-12s produced by Lockheed, five were lost and two pilots were killed.

The sleek and sinister SR-71 Blackbird looks like it belongs in a science fiction movie, though in fact the jet black spy plane proved far more successful at outrunning enemy missiles than any of ...

The A-12 was the precursor to the better-known SR-71 Blackbird, which Grimes and Musk say is their favorite plane. The Blackbird became prominent during the Cold War and was purely for high ...

The SR-71 Blackbird may be among the most iconic airframes of the Cold War, but this incredibly fast design wasn’t always intended to serve only as a high-flying set of eyes.

The two-seater Blackbird was much larger than the A-12, measuring about six feet longer than the A-12 and weighing 15,000 pounds more. It was slower, but it had a longer range in between refueling.

“Blackbird” is a small, strange and for some no doubt off-putting drama about a woman who returns to confront the man who sexually abused her when she was a 12-year-old girl.

Lockheed designated the Blackbird prototype the A-12. Its first flight occurred on April 30, 1962. The A-12 was a single-seat aircraft; in total, 13 A-12s were produced, and they were used in a ...

The A-12 Oxcart was the predecessor to the SR-71 Blackbird. For a brief period of time, the CIA flew the A-12, which Lockheed's Skunk Works developed in secret.

It remains on display at the Blackbird Airpark. Scheduled to attend the event are Schalk, Bob Gilliland and Jim Eastham, first flight pilots on the A-12, SR-71, and YF-12 respectively.