60-6936

photo courtesy of NASA/Dryden

On Saturday, May 1, 1965, YF-12A #60-6936 was used to set several speed and altitude records (notice the white reference cross just visible on the underside of the engine near the landing gear).  This was "coincidentally" the Russian New Year, and 5 years to the day that Gary Powers was shot down flying his U-2 over the Soviet Union.  The plan was to have 2 airframes (936 and 934) each set different records, but 934 developed problems at the last minute, and so 936 was used to set all of the following records that day:

60-6936; image courtesy Lockheed Martin

photo courtesy of Lockheed Martin


Date RecordCrew
1 May 1965 World absolute and class records for speed over a 15/25 km straight course:
2,070 mph

World absolute and class records for sustained altitude (horizontal flight):
80,258 ft 		Col. Fox Stephens and LtCol. Daniel Andre
1 May 1965 World absolute and class records for speed (500 km closed circuit):
1,643 mph		 Maj. Walt Daniel and Maj. Noel Warner
1 May 1965 World absolute and class records for speed (1,000 km closed circuit):
1,689 mph		 Maj. Walt Daniel and Capt. James Cooney
Source: Lockheed Martin press release, Sept. 1991


USAF photo via Bill Gornik


She was still wearing that cross when she was lost on Thursday, June 24, 1971.  On approach to Edwards Air Force Base, a fire broke out from a ruptured fuel line and quickly engulfed the entire left engine.  Pilot Lt.Col. Jack Layton and Systems Operator Billy Curtis ejected safely, but the aircraft was a total loss.  Shortly thereafter, SR-71 #951 was reassigned the bogus tail number 06937, redesignated as a "YF-12C", and continued with NASA's YF-12 program until its conclusion in 1979.

More photos are available at NASA's web site and our NASA/Dryden Mirror Page.



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