03-15-2023, 06:35 PM
Yeah, first flight of the A-12 was in 1962, it only was flown for surveillance missions for a couple years in 1967-68. The SR-71 was based on the A-12 design, but a bit larger to carry more fuel for longer range. That made it a slight bit slower than the A-12 with a maximum altitude that was a bit lower as well All SR-71s were twin seaters, except for the trainers the A-12 was a single seater. First flight of the SR-71 was about 2 1/2 years after the A-12 at the end of 1964.