Posted on 12/25/2011 9:13:41 AM PST by redreno
Back in the 80s, the United States Navy wanted a stealth aircraft to replace the A-6 Intruder. McDonnell Douglas and General Dynamics came up with an ultra-secret flying wing design, an alien-looking aircraft called the A-12 Avenger II. It never flew.
Fast forward 30 years and go to eBay. Someone named Seth Kettleman is selling its canopy for a whooping $620,238. How did this happen?
Kettleman is probably going to get that amount or more. After all, this is the only part of this secret airplane to reach public hands. Nobody else has anything else about this fabled jet, ultimately killed by major development problems and the arrival of the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet. He says it's completely authentic:
(Excerpt) Read more at gizmodo.com ...
Man those idiots like slinging the term “Top Secret” around. I doubt they even know the criteria for classification.
Hmmmmm.....Dad wants a canopy for his pickup......$620,000?????????.....looks like Dad gets another tie for Christmas next year.
The A-12 sounds like the version of the SR-71 that had weapons, a supersonic dogfighter aircraft.
The SR-71 was a reconnaissance version. The F-12 was the interceptor version. I think the A-11 and A- 12 were the development test models.
nowadays top secret is an integral part of resale value...
It would make a good aquarium......
Well back then we were FIGHTING Communism, not BECOMING Communist/s;)
The A-12 under the Oxcart Project at Area-51 was the CIA portion of what became the SR-71. There’s some great photos floating around of one upside down on a pedestal where they were doing radar work. When the Soviet satellites came over they would blow a horn and everyone would run to get everything covered up. It was called “toot and scoot”.
Bet the Iranian bid will win.
The McDonnell Douglas A-12 Avenger II was a stealth carrier capable attack aircraft developed for the USN, but canceled before any prototypes were complete.
Is the latter A-12 that this canopy was purportedly built for.
Where does one search on Ebay for such a thing, and what kind of person searches for that stuff, a “hoarder of weird stuff”?
It’s sitting in a self-storage unit. I could just imagine the gang from Auction Hunters when they saw off that lock and roll up the door.... YYYYUP!!!
The Navy A12 of the 80’s has nothing to do with the SR71 /CIA’s A12 of the 60’s
From a private airplane hanger being torn down, I "liberated" a brand-new aircraft canopy from an industrial-sized dumpster. An unknown quantity, I think it was designed for an aircraft of just one passenger, and is made of 3/8" thick polycarbonite. It's still in its original sticky-wrapper, about 3'x4'; but sadly, not shaped adequately for aquarium use.
In response to my ad (for less than $600,000), I got a call from an interested party who wished to make a doggy trailer for his motorcycle: this was to become the windshield. LOL!
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