Blackbird by Buffalo1
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No AI - This artwork was created entirely by hand or with traditional digital tools.
Description
This Blackbird is on display at The Museum of Flight in Seattle. It is an M-21 variant of the A-12 designed to launch the D-21 recon drone mounted piggyback. The drone proved unsuccessful in testing. Only two M-21 Blackbirds were built.
Lockheed's famous "Blackbird" came in three varieties, the A-12, the YF-12, and the SR-71 reconaissance planes. The A-12 was a single seat recon plane despite its "A" for attack designation. The A-12 predates the larger two seat SR-71.
A Lockheed F-104 "Starfighter" in NASA livery is in the background

Comments (15)
I never read much about the drone but assume you are right in its "failure". Great POV and an excellent display of this magnificent eagle of the skies.
I have pictures of the SR-71. I love the blackbird!! wonderful shot!
Historicly you are right(what a surprise!, LOL!) Now it is very kind of you to share this material. Well done!
that a good shot of the plane
I love the Blackbird...such a cool looking plane...I saw one at the Udvar-Hazy museum in Virginia. These planes were so fast that if a missile was launched at them the pilot's protocol was to just speed the plane up. The world record for speed - 3520 kph.
It is a good shot erland
Very nice shot!
that looks like a mean sleek flying machine!
Neat find...I have an old photo of the SR-71/ YF-112 from the base in 1979.....S.A.C. headquarters that I took just after it landed from on the flightline. Thanks for posting this one.
Very nicely done! Love the historical perspectives of your work here!
Wow! Cool image!
it is nice to be out of the weather while viewing planes but the lighting does you no favors.almost impossible to isolate the planes from other distractions. still and excellent capture
great shot of that awsome plane !!
Nifty shot. I think Hasbro used this as a GI JOE vehicle (albeit with a lot of aerodynamically-impossible guns).
Great capture Rog. I thought it was an optical illusion until I read the text. I didn't know about the M-21 variant. Maybe it flew to fast to launch a drone?