Finding a D21 drone in an aircraft graveyard

Re:Finding a D21 drone in an aircraft graveyard by dingaling on Saturday June 09, 2018 @01:57PM (#17274127)

I'm a bit confused by this story. He says he found it 'abandoned' in the backlot of some AZ aircraft graveyard in 2009, but it was actually loaned to the Pima Air Museum in ... 1993.

https://flic.kr/p/nHrFJm

It was on their lot, it just wasn't on display at that time. Probably because there were already eight others ( plus some wrecakge ) on display around the USA... Despite its secrecy it's not a rarity.

Also the serial he states is incorrect, 90-0533 is a USAF C-17A transport; the 90 indicates the Fiscal Year in which the procurement was authorised. That D-21's serial was just a non-standard 533. Like a lot of the A-12 / SR project things weren't always booked and accounted like they should have been.

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Re:Finding a D21 drone in an aircraft graveyard by ThenAsNow on Saturday June 09, 2018 @02:49PM (#17274403)

There's also a D-21 out for all to see at Blackbird Air Park in Palmdale (which has plenty of other awesome stuff as well, such as an A-12/SR-71 - don't remember which airframe - wind tunnel model).

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