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Ejection seat from the supersonic SR-71. The seat is of the variant designated C-2, which was used in the very early A-12 and SR-71 Blackbirds and is the only SR-71 ejection seat in private hands worldwide. First, a bit of history about this fantastic aircraft. The SR-71 is part of the family of aircraft known as the “Blackbirds,” which are stealth aircraft that were designed and produced by Lockheed’s Skunk Works and include the A-12 used by the CIA (13 made), the YF-12 interceptor used by the USAF (3 made), the M-21 used to launch a reconnaissance drone (2 made) and the SR-71, the USAF long range reconnaissance aircraft (32 made). In the late 1950s, the Soviet Union had protested overflights by subsonic American U-2 spy planes. In response, Lockheed's Skunk Works had developed the A-12 spy plane for the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency; and in 1960 was awarded a contract to build 12 of these aircraft. The single seat A-12 featured a stealth design to minimize its radar cross-section, and was supersonic to overcome the weakness of the U-2’s vulnerability to surface to air missile attack. At the same time that Skunk Works was developing the A-12, the USAF was seeking a replacement for the F-106 Delta Dart. Skunk Works' Kelly Johnson proposed to the USAF a version of the A-12 called the AF-12. The USAF ordered three AF-12s in mid-1960 and these aircraft were the seventh through ninth A-12’s made. The Air Force version was longer and heavier than the CIA version of the A-12. Its fuselage was lengthened for additional fuel capacity to increase range and the cockpit was modified to add a second crew member to operate the fire control radar. The aircraft's nose was modified to accommodate the Hughes AN/ASG-18 fire-control radar originally developed for the XF-108; this modification changed the aircraft's aerodynamics enough to require ventral fins to be mounted under the fuselage and engine nacelles to maintain stability. Finally, four bays previously used to house the A-12's reconnaissance equipment were converted to carry Hughes AIM-47 Falcon (GAR-9) missiles and one bay was used for fire control equipment. The new USAF A-12 was designated the YF-12A interceptor, the first of which flew on August 7, 1963. After testing the three AF-12’s and realizing the potential of the A-12 design, in December 1962 the Air Force ordered a long-range strategic reconnaissance version of the A-12, which was designated the R-12 by Lockheed. Capable of flying at speeds over Mach 3.2 with a ceiling at 85,000 feet (and it still holds the record since 1976 as the fastest airplane ever built), it could evade missile attack by simply accelerating. Like the YF-12, the R-12’s fuselage was lengthened beyond the original A-12 configuration for additional fuel capacity to increase range, its cockpit included a second seat and the chines were reshaped. The aircraft’s reconnaissance equipment included signals intelligence sensors, a side-looking radar and a photo camera. Facing political pressure and claims that the U.S. was falling behind the Soviet Union in the research and development of new weapons systems, then-president Lyndon Johnson decided to publicly announce the YF-12A (which had served as cover for the still-secret A-12) and the Air Force reconnaissance model R-12. Air Force Chief of Staff General Curtis LeMay preferred the designation “SR (Strategic Reconnaissance”) for the new USAF aircraft and wanted the R-12 to be named SR-71. He lobbied to modify Johnson's speech to change the aircraft’s name to SR-71 and he was successful. This public announcement of the formerly secret program and the change to the aircraft’s designation came as a shock to Skunk Works and to Air Force personnel involved in the program. But the change to the aircraft’s designation was perceived as an order from the Commander-in-Chief; and accordingly, Skunk Works began reprinting over 29,000 blueprints for aircraft, retitled as "SR-71". Costing $33 million each, the first SR-71 entered service in 1966. Made primarily from titanium acquired from the USSR (Lockheed used subterfuge to prevent the Soviet government from knowing what the titanium was to be used for), the aircraft were painted a dark blue (almost black) to increase the transference of heat from the interior of the aircraft (the plane’s fuel was a heat sink for avionics cooling) and as camouflage against the night sky. The SR-71 was unofficially named the Blackbird, after BLACK SHIELD, the name for the A-12 missions in Vietnam and Southeast Asia based out of Okinawa Japan; and was also called the Habu by its crews, referring to an Okinawan species of pit viper. In 1968 the Blackbird program was cancelled and on February 5, 1968 Lockheed was ordered to destroy all the tooling for the A-12, YF-12, and SR-71 aircraft. But the SR-71 continued in service until 1990, by which time the Blackbird family of aircraft had completed 17,300 total sorties flown, 53,490 total flight hours and 11,675 hours of flight time at Mach 3. The SR-71 flew for 17 straight years (1972-1989) without a loss of plane or crew. Twelve of the 32 aircraft that were built were destroyed in accidents, though none were lost to enemy action. The aircraft was officially retired in 1990, but the lack of other resources to accomplish the reconnaissance needed by the US military prompted the Congress in 1994 to approve funds to bring three of these aircraft back out of retirement. They served the USAF until 1999 when the aircraft was finally retired for the last time. Although an aircraft manufacturer is responsible for ejection seat development as part of designing and building aircraft under government contracts, it is often sub-contracted to other companies that were more experienced in the industry. In the case of the SR-71, Lockheed turned to Stanley Aviation Corp. for the development of the ejection seat. Stanley had previously developed the B seat for the F 104 and the C-1 seat. Visually, the C-2 was very similar to the C-1, with a few notable differences. The foot rests were changed to remove the sides, and hinged to the bottom front edge of the seat bucket. Another quickly identifiable visual difference is the shape of the ejection pull handle, which was triangular on the C-1 where the C-2 used a 'D' shape (flat side down). This was done to give better grip from the pilot's hands and it would reduce the tendency to pull to one side if only one hand was used to initiate ejection. The automatic lap belt was also changed to a newer model. The parachute (BA-18 and -22) system of the C-2 included a lanyard activated timer mechanism to give some time for the seat to be clear prior to parachute deployment. The headrest was beefed up a little and a canopy breaker was attached to it. These features allowed for the foot retracts to work more reliably, the handle to be grabbed easier, and if the canopy failed to jettison, to eject through the glass. The other major change was of course to the XM10 rocket catapult for upward ejection. The C-2 style seat was ultimately replaced in 1967 / 1968 with the later SR-1 variant, which was designated the “RQ201”. Some of the noticeable differences between the SR-1 and the C-2 variants include the omission of the leg guards and arm restraint nets on the SR-1 which were used on the C-2, the secondary ejection handle has been relocated to the left side for the SR-1, the double-d ring is replaced with a single loop d-ring on the SR-1 and the seat bucket and headrest are shaped differently.

 

Methodical examination of part numbers on this seat by the consignor of this item, coupled with his extensive research and communication with experts and pilots of the SR-71, have identified this seat as belonging to an SR-71. This identification is supported by part numbers on various components beginning with A prefix (parts used on all variants of the Blackbird family except D-21) and 4A (denotes parts used on SR-71A and SR-71B) and Q (denotes parts used in the cockpit and life support systems for the aircraft). . In addition, some of the parts bear the unique aircraft inspection stamp used by Lockheed ADP and some are dated 1965 / 1966. Examples of the part numbers found on this seat can be seen in photos accompanying this lot, as follows: Photo 175-7: Part number 4AQ345 RING MOUNT INSTALLATION - MANUAL CUTTER plate found behind Manual Spur release handle on right side of head rest Photo175_8: Part numbers AQ149-11B Support, Headrest, Ejection Seat with Lockheed ADP Inspection Stamp, AQ338 EXTENSION TUBE, "D" RING, EJECTOR SEAT, AQ301-3 A "D" Ring Bracket Cover Assembly Serial Number and AQ149-8 Support, Headrest, Ejection Seat with Lockheed ADP Inspection Stamp Photo 175_9: parts stamped with Lockheed Skunkworks inspection stamps denoting “Functional Test” and dated 1965 and 1966 respectively. This seat is in overall very good condition and does not bear evidence of having been ejected. This is an incredibly rare aviation artifact in museum quality condition.

 

 

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