The OXCART Program
Black Box Files
721,087 views
Before the SR-71 carried the Blackbird name into history, there was another aircraft many people didn't know about. Faster and Lighter. Flown by CIA pilots whose names weren't on any roster, over territory no one in Washington would officially admit they were watching.
This is a comprehensive story of the Lockheed A-12 and the OXCART program— from Pentagon briefing rooms where the U-2's days were already being counted, through the secret construction of AREA 51 - a base that didn't exist. Twenty-nine operational missions that proved a Mach 3 reconnaissance aircraft could penetrate denied airspace and come home clean.
If you want to fly the A-12 yourself, check out Glowingheat’s A-12 Cygnus add-on for FSX and Prepar3D, available at Just Flight: https://www.justflight.com/product/gl...
Chapters
00:00 — Intro
00:60 — Why the U-2 Was Running Out of Time
05:23 — The Design Competition
11:34 — Secret Radar Tests at Groom Lake
15:36 — Building the A-12 and Expanding Area 51
18:54 — Midnight Transport and Inside the Hangar
23:25 — First Flight
30:17 — The Engine Problem and the J-58
37:10 — Operation Black Shield — First Mission
48:53 — The Other Blackbirds
20 Comments
At the same place I met an Iraqi mig 25 pilot. Saw a mig helmet we had which started a short conversation. He was proud, not overly or anything. But then quickly choked up when talking about the wars and didn’t want to talk about it anymore. I thanked him and he left.
The OXCART Program
Black Box Files
721,087 views
Before the SR-71 carried the Blackbird name into history, there was another aircraft many people didn't know about. Faster and Lighter. Flown by CIA pilots whose names weren't on any roster, over territory no one in Washington would officially admit they were watching.
This is a comprehensive story of the Lockheed A-12 and the OXCART program— from Pentagon briefing rooms where the U-2's days were already being counted, through the secret construction of AREA 51 - a base that didn't exist. Twenty-nine operational missions that proved a Mach 3 reconnaissance aircraft could penetrate denied airspace and come home clean.
If you want to fly the A-12 yourself, check out Glowingheat’s A-12 Cygnus add-on for FSX and Prepar3D, available at Just Flight: https://www.justflight.com/product/gl...
Chapters
00:00 — Intro
00:60 — Why the U-2 Was Running Out of Time
05:23 — The Design Competition
11:34 — Secret Radar Tests at Groom Lake
15:36 — Building the A-12 and Expanding Area 51
18:54 — Midnight Transport and Inside the Hangar
23:25 — First Flight
30:17 — The Engine Problem and the J-58
37:10 — Operation Black Shield — First Mission
48:53 — The Other Blackbirds
Also if there’s any aviation enthusiasts like me or anyone who wants to fly the A-12 themselves, Glowingheat has an awesome A-12 Cygnus add-on for FSX and Prepar3D, available.
https://www.justflight.com/product/glowingheat-a12-cygnus
Jack