This one-twelfth scale Blackbird wind tunnel test article sits proudly on display at Blackbird Airpark in Palmdale, California. It was used for initial wind tunnel testing after the CIA awarded the Archangel contract to Lockheed on September 14, 1959.

If the model had come apart during testing at Lockheed’s Rye Canyon Research Facility, it would have destroyed their supersonic wind tunnel, so the model is constructed of a rugged, heavy stainless steel. To save money, the model was developed with three interchangeable forebody sections, representing the A-12, SR-71, and YF-17. The aft body of all the Blackbird aircraft are essentially the same, excluding minor differences. The nose of the SR-71 forebody interchanges as well, to test the two different SR nose configurations.

In June of 1983, the Rye Canyon Research Facility was renamed to the Kelly Johnson Research and Development Center. The old Rye Canyon wind tunnel has recently found a new home at the University of Singapore, who is working to further aviation technology for their country.