from Hacker News

Transporting the CIA A-12 Blackbird to Area 51

by jmonegro on 4/27/13, 3:58 PM with 34 comments

• by cstross on 4/27/13, 4:41 PM

  The A-12 wasn't a bloody bomber!

  (It was the single-seat predecessor version of the SR-71 Blackbird. While interceptor and bomber versions were proposed, only 3 prototype YF-12A interceptors were built; the bomber variant was a paper study. The A-12 itself was definitively unarmed, being a pure reconnaissance aircraft.)

  See also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_A-12

• by MCompeau on 4/27/13, 6:27 PM

  If you enjoyed this article, I highly recommend checking out the book Skunk Works by Ben R. Rich (director of Lockheed's Skunkworks). It covers the development of this aircraft and several others through some pretty gripping accounts of engineering during the Cold War.

• by jordan0day on 4/28/13, 3:46 AM

  I read this earlier today and have been thinking about it since then. This story seems like a great example of thinking hard but methodically about what you want to do. Then planning it out. Then just doing it.

  Agile methodologies are really en vogue in software development right now, but this story, complete with its 100 foot long, 35 foot wide trailer seems to be very nearly the (literal?) antithesis of "agile".

  Maybe I'm grasping at straws, maybe it really is a lot more complicated to build web sites or whatever we all do, but this story seems to illustrate a "waterfall" process, executed relatively successfully 50 years ago. Why then, are we so bad at it now?

• by at-fates-hands on 4/27/13, 11:43 PM

  Here's the story of Area 51 Nat Geo did a few years ago. I thought it was a pretty good documentary:

  part 1 of 4: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jcJzDqxqmEc

  It talks extensively about the A-12 project. I thought the most interesting part was how they shipped square parts in round boxes and round parts in square boxes to conceal what was inside.

  Different time back then for sure.

• by monokrome on 4/27/13, 6:08 PM

  Is anyone else bothered by the fact that this site changes the color of all text on the page if you click any of it? O_O

• by hrayr on 4/28/13, 1:48 AM

  Reminds me of the recent move of Endeavour through the streets of LA. It was truly a magical sight to behold.

  http://framework.latimes.com/2012/10/15/time-lapse-video-spa...

• by ck2 on 4/27/13, 4:51 PM

  Wouldn't it have been cheaper to build a runway there and fly them there?

• by tomarr on 4/27/13, 9:27 PM

  I know a project manager tasked with moving one of the retired concordes from Heathrow to somewhere along the Thames for transport up to a museum in Scotland. This required removal of several traffic islands and signals temporarily (overnight), and was quite the logistical challenge, made for some cool pictures though!

• by randlet on 4/28/13, 12:57 AM

  Cool article. In a similar vein, the time lapse video[1] of moving the shuttle Endeavour through LA to the California Science Center is wonderful!

  [1] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JdqZyACCYZc