Message posted by Roger McDonald on January 21, 2012 at 12:31:10 PST:
In 1965 and 1966 I was at Edwards involved in some Boeing flight test programs. Parked next to us for several weeks was the YF-12A. Never saw it fly, but we could walk up to it, touch it, and talk to some maintence people. It had a strange black coating that felt like lamp black. Got to see many aircraft including the XB-70. They would tow it with a truck in front dragging wooden boards with magnets to pick up FOD. The tires wire painted white or silver to reflect heat. Saw it fly once and watched it pull away from chase planes. Also got to see the X-15 being loaded. On the far side of the dry lake at night you could see the flames and light when they would test rocket engines. Every morning at daybreak there was some aircraft flying low, at speed over the lake; breking the sound barrier most mornings. Exiting times.
In Reply to: XB-70 and YF-12A at Edwards posted by RickB on January 19, 2012 at 19:16:39 PST:
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