The D-21 was a drone that could fly above 90,000 feet (27.4 km) at mach 3.3+. The D-21 was autonomous; after launch, it would fly over the target, travel to a predetermined rendezvous point, eject...
The D-21 was a drone that could fly above 90,000 feet (27.4 km) at mach 3.3+. The D-21 was autonomous; after launch, it would fly over the target, travel to a predetermined rendezvous point, eject its data package, and self-destruct. A C-130 Hercules would catch the package in midair. It was designed to surveil the Chinese.
The M-21 program was canceled in 1966 after a drone collided with the mother ship at launch. The crew safely ejected, but LCO Ray Torrick drowned when his flight suit filled with water after landing in the ocean.
So the D-21 was only ever operationally launched from a B-52 with a booster rocket because that's a little less insane than this.
It had several successful and several unsuccessful launches, but the mission itself wasn't particularly successful.
Before the Hopeless Diamond/Have Blue/F-117, this was the lowest Radar Cross-Section that Lockheed had achieved.
The names M-21 and D-21 refer to the mothership and the daughtership.
Huh, I was there in about '96 but I don't remember that. I do remember Tacit Blue and the second F-117 made though. And the Streak Eagle (time to climb record holder for awhile).
There has been a D-21B at the National Museum of the Air Force since 1993.
Huh, I was there in about '96 but I don't remember that. I do remember Tacit Blue and the second F-117 made though. And the Streak Eagle (time to climb record holder for awhile).
Where they currently have it, it's not very noteworthy. Just looks like some weird missile (which is essentially what it is) under the Blackbird's wing. I'm not sure where it was back then, but...
Where they currently have it, it's not very noteworthy. Just looks like some weird missile (which is essentially what it is) under the Blackbird's wing. I'm not sure where it was back then, but all the pictures of it at the museum seem to have it out if the main collection, so that may be why.
Did you intend to link to just the image of the M-21/D-21 instead of to their actual Wikipedia informational entries? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_A-12#M-21...
Did you intend to link to just the image of the M-21/D-21 instead of to their actual Wikipedia informational entries?
Asking because image link topics have always been somewhat controversial here on Tildes, and also generally discouraged. So I would honestly recommend considering changing the link to one of those instead since they have more substance to them (and proper citations), which I can do for you if you want.
Yes, because the point of the Weird Wings thing is really to discuss planes with unusual appearances. That's why it's a picture of a plane as the post with more info in the comments. In the...
Yes, because the point of the Weird Wings thing is really to discuss planes with unusual appearances. That's why it's a picture of a plane as the post with more info in the comments. In the original subreddit you are actually required to post a detailed description of the plane and the top posts often include much more detail than even I did here. So it's really still more about the discussion than the easily-consumed image post.
That said, I'm planning on not just posting images in the future (that's why I went with the Wikipedia page for an entire program last time instead of just posting one plane). This plane is really just a variation of the A-12, so, as your links show, the M-21 itself is usually just a small section on any page. This was mostly a way to restrict it to being about the M-21 itself rather than the other planes. While it's probably a bit abnormal to in some way limit discussion on your own post, I'm hoping to basically give some of our lurker users with niche interests or specialized knowledge a chance to get in on the discussion. Not that there's anything wrong with "oh, cool, I had no idea the SR-71 wasn't actually the fastest plane," but a lot of the people I'm targeting have already had a lot of those discussions numerous times.
(Also, thanks for editing the title to what I requested)
Ah, okay. I'm totally unfamiliar with that subreddit, so had no idea what this topic was supposed to be for. If you want to make more of these Weird Wing topics, it might be a good idea to submit...
In the original subreddit you are actually required to post a detailed description of the plane and the top posts often include much more detail than even I did here. So it's really still more about the discussion than the easily-consumed image post.
Ah, okay. I'm totally unfamiliar with that subreddit, so had no idea what this topic was supposed to be for. If you want to make more of these Weird Wing topics, it might be a good idea to submit them as a text topic instead of link topic, so that you can also provide an explanation of the purpose of the topic, along with the image. That way those of us unfamiliar with the concept won't get confused, and can also try to participate.
p.s. To submit a text topic, leave the "Link" section blank, and just fill out the "Title" and "Text (markdown)" sections.
The D-21 was a drone that could fly above 90,000 feet (27.4 km) at mach 3.3+. The D-21 was autonomous; after launch, it would fly over the target, travel to a predetermined rendezvous point, eject its data package, and self-destruct. A C-130 Hercules would catch the package in midair. It was designed to surveil the Chinese.
The M-21 program was canceled in 1966 after a drone collided with the mother ship at launch. The crew safely ejected, but LCO Ray Torrick drowned when his flight suit filled with water after landing in the ocean.
So the D-21 was only ever operationally launched from a B-52 with a booster rocket because that's a little less insane than this.
It had several successful and several unsuccessful launches, but the mission itself wasn't particularly successful.
Before the Hopeless Diamond/Have Blue/F-117, this was the lowest Radar Cross-Section that Lockheed had achieved.
The names M-21 and D-21 refer to the mothership and the daughtership.
There has been a D-21B at the National Museum of the Air Force since 1993.
Huh, I was there in about '96 but I don't remember that. I do remember Tacit Blue and the second F-117 made though. And the Streak Eagle (time to climb record holder for awhile).
Where they currently have it, it's not very noteworthy. Just looks like some weird missile (which is essentially what it is) under the Blackbird's wing. I'm not sure where it was back then, but all the pictures of it at the museum seem to have it out if the main collection, so that may be why.
Did you intend to link to just the image of the M-21/D-21 instead of to their actual Wikipedia informational entries?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_A-12#M-21
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_D-21
Asking because image link topics have always been somewhat controversial here on Tildes, and also generally discouraged. So I would honestly recommend considering changing the link to one of those instead since they have more substance to them (and proper citations), which I can do for you if you want.
Yes, because the point of the Weird Wings thing is really to discuss planes with unusual appearances. That's why it's a picture of a plane as the post with more info in the comments. In the original subreddit you are actually required to post a detailed description of the plane and the top posts often include much more detail than even I did here. So it's really still more about the discussion than the easily-consumed image post.
That said, I'm planning on not just posting images in the future (that's why I went with the Wikipedia page for an entire program last time instead of just posting one plane). This plane is really just a variation of the A-12, so, as your links show, the M-21 itself is usually just a small section on any page. This was mostly a way to restrict it to being about the M-21 itself rather than the other planes. While it's probably a bit abnormal to in some way limit discussion on your own post, I'm hoping to basically give some of our lurker users with niche interests or specialized knowledge a chance to get in on the discussion. Not that there's anything wrong with "oh, cool, I had no idea the SR-71 wasn't actually the fastest plane," but a lot of the people I'm targeting have already had a lot of those discussions numerous times.
(Also, thanks for editing the title to what I requested)
Ah, okay. I'm totally unfamiliar with that subreddit, so had no idea what this topic was supposed to be for. If you want to make more of these Weird Wing topics, it might be a good idea to submit them as a text topic instead of link topic, so that you can also provide an explanation of the purpose of the topic, along with the image. That way those of us unfamiliar with the concept won't get confused, and can also try to participate.
p.s. To submit a text topic, leave the "Link" section blank, and just fill out the "Title" and "Text (markdown)" sections.