SR-71 — The Blackbird Survivors

What is a SR-71 Blackbird? It is a Mach 3 spy plane designed by Kelly Johnson and built by the Lockheed Skunkworks. The Blackbird was built in the 1950’s and 1960’s for the CIA and the US Air Force. It was designed to fly so fast and high that it would be impossible to shoot down. In fact, the Blackbird was shot at over 1000 times without being hit once. The Blackbird was also the first airplane to be built using Stealth technology. The Air Force version has a crew of 2, and is called the SR-71. A CIA version is called the A-12, and has a single crew member. A prototype fighter version called the YF-12A was canceled before going into production. The M-21 carried the D-21 drone on its back. One M-21 was lost launching a D-21 drone, so the drone program shifted to launching the D-21’s from B-52 motherships. The Air Force shut down the the Blackbird program in the mid-1990’s, but both Congress and NASA revived it. The Blackbird was retired for good in 1999.

Follow the hot-linked serial numbers to see a photo of each survivor. So far, I have photos of 8 of the 10 surviving A-12’s and 17 of the 20 surviving SR-71’s. Some of the Blackbirds are not accessible to the public, so it may be a while before I can get photos of all of the airframes. The good news is that many of the airframes that have been in storage are now being allocated to museums. That means that all of the surviving Blackbirds will eventually go on public display.

Serial number table based on a list created by Albert Dobyns (ahdobyns@worldnet.att.net). Used with permission. Photo above courtesy of NASA, official photo ID EC95-43075-2.

Note—SR-71 serial numbers are often listed as 64-17xxx. These numbers are incorrect, and are often used as disinformation. The correct serial numbers are shown above in the 61-7xxx format.

Serial Number	Hull Number	State	City	Location	Notes
60-6924	121	CA	Palmdale	Blackbird Airpark	A-12 prototype aircraft. Displayed outdoors next to a SR-71.
60-6925	122	NY	New York City	Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum	First production A-12 aircraft. Displayed outdoors on the aircraft carrier flight deck.
60-6927	124	CA	Los Angeles	California Science Center	Two-seat trainer model nicknamed Titanium Goose. In storage at Air Force Plant #42 for many years, went on display outside of the California Science Center in Exposition Park in late 2003.
60-6930	127	AL	Huntsville	Alabama Space and Rocket Center	Displayed outdoors in front of NASA Visitor Center, visible from I-565.
60-6931	128	VA	Langley	Central Intelligence Agency Museum	Displayed outdoors on pylon near CIA HQ, off limits to visitors.
60-6933	130	CA	San Diego	San Diego Aerospace Museum	Mounted on pylon outside of museum front entrance.
60-6937	131	AL	Birmingham	Southern Museum of Flight	Displayed outdoors on the east side of the Birmingham airport.
60-6938	132	AL	Mobile	Battleship Memorial Park	Displayed indoors in the new aircraft pavilion next to the USS Alabama battleship. Reported to be heavily damaged in Hurricane Katrina on August 29, 2005.

Serial Number	Hull Number	State	City	Location	Notes
61-7951	2002	AZ	Tucson	Pima Air Museum	Displayed outdoors, but under a canopy.
61-7955	2006	CA	Rosamond	Air Force Flight Test Center Museum, Edwards AFB	Museum closed to pubic since 9/11.
61-7956	2007	MI	Kalamazoo	Kalamazoo Air Zoo	Last surviving original SR-71B two-seat trainer. Recently went on display indoors at the Kalamazoo Air Zoo. Formerly was used as a trainer at NASA Dryden Flight Flight Research Center at Edwards AFB.
61-7958	2009	GA	Warner Robins	Museum of Aviation	Displayed indoors.
61-7959	2010	FL	Valparaiso	Air Force Armament Museum, Eglin AFB	Big-Tail version that carried extra sensors and cameras. Displayed outdoors.
61-7960	2011	CA	Atwater	Castle Air Museum	Site of the former Castle Air Force Base. Displayed outdoors.
61-7961	2012	KS	Hutchinson	Kansas State Cosmosphere & Space Center	Displayed indoors in the new museum atrium.
61-7962	2013	England	Duxford	American Air Museum	Moved indoors to the new American Air Museum in late 2002/early 2003. Was outdoors at the Imperial War Museum, and previously in storage at Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, CA.
61-7963	2014	CA	Marysville	Beale AFB Museum	Displayed outdoors in a restricted area near the flightline.
61-7964	2015	NE	Ashland	Strategic Air Command Museum	Displayed in new museum building atrium just off of I-80 in Ashland, Nebraska. Formerly was outdoors at SAC Museum at Offutt AFB.
61-7967	2018	LA	Shreveport	8th Air Force Museum	Went on display in Dec, 2003. Previously in storage in CA.
61-7968	2019	VA	Richmond	Virginia Aviation Museum	Holds the world record for endurance flying, set on April 26, 1971, with a 10 hour, 15,000-mile nonstop flight. Displayed outdoors.
61-7971	2022	OR	McMinnville	Evergreen Aviation Museum	Now on display at Evergreen Aviation Museum as of early 2003. Formerly on loan to NASA as tail number 832.
61-7972	2023	DC	Washington	National Air & Space Museum	Set four new speed records on its retirement flight, 6 March 1990. This Blackbird is now on public display at new NASM museum annex near Dulles International Airport, the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center.
61-7973	2024	CA	Palmdale	Blackbird Airpark	Displayed outdoors next to an A-12.
61-7975	2026	CA	Riverside	March Field Museum, March AFB	Displayed outdoors.
61-7976	2027	OH	Dayton	U.S. Air Force Museum, Wright-Patterson AFB	Displayed in the Cold War gallery.
61-7979	2030	TX	San Antonio	History & Traditions Museum, Lackland AFB	Displayed outdoors on the base parade grounds.
61-7980	2031	CA	Rosamond	NASA Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards AFB	On display at NASA Dryden Flight Research Center marked as NASA 844. Due to 9/11, this area is not open to the general public.
61-7981		UT	Ogden	Hill AFB Museum	Only SR-71C. Hybrid trainer aircraft from salvaged parts of YF-12A, 60-6934 (rear half) and functional engineering mockup of the SR-71A forward fuselage. Displayed in museum building.

SR-71 A-12 YF-12A M-21
The Blackbird Survivors

By John Weeks

Lockheed A-12 Blackbird Survivors

Lockheed M-21 Blackbird Survivors

Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird Survivors