CW SR-71A Blackbird "Skull & Crossbones" (CW001607)

[SuperKungFu]

This one just landed in my collection:

Century Wings
Lockheed SR-71A Blackbird
USAF 9th SRW Det.1 #61-7962
"Skull & Crossbones"
Kadena AFB, Japan
Item: CW001607, 500 units produced worldwide

Aircraft #61-7962 first flew on April 29th, 1966 and was delivered to the 9th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing at Beale AFB, California a few weeks later. The aircraft spent much of the 1980s stationed with Detachment 1 in Kadena, Japan and it was during this period that the "Skull and Crossbones" tail-art was applied. On January 21st, 1990, #962 departed Kadena for the last time, bound for the US, marking the end of SR-71 operations in Japan. The aircraft is currently on display at the Imperial War Museum in Duxford, England - the sole SR-71 on display outside of the continental United States.

Here are the pictures:

[JAL1628]

Great pictures; what an incredible aircraft. Still intriguing and mysterious after so many years. A real life glimpse behind the curtain at Area 51! One wonders what may have replaced the SR-71...

I'm lucky I've seen two in person: one at the Evergreen Museum in McMinnville, Oregon, and also the drone carrier in Seattle (Museum of Flight). At the Seattle museum they have an SR-71 cockpit you can sit in too.

I just ordered Col Graham's seminal book on the SR-71, "SR-71 Revealed: The Inside Story", I am very excited to read it.