61-7958

958 in the hangar at Beale AFB.  In this photo she sports a unique interpretation of the habu on her tail; also note how the exhaust fairings (sometimes called "turkey feathers") are at maximum aperature. -Lockheed Martin photo

958 was the first "regular" (neither test vehicle nor trainer) blackbird delivered to the Air Force.  She left the assembly line on July 22, 1965, and made her first flight with pilot Bill Weaver and RSO George Andre on December 15 of that year (Lockheed Skunk Works, Jay Miller; p. 200).

On Tuesday and Wednesday, July 27 & 28, 1976, 958 bettered 3 speed and altitude records previously held by a YF-12A, #60-6936.

Date RecordCrew
28 July 1976World absolute and class record for speed over a 15/25 km straight course:
2,193.167 mph		 Capt. Eldon Joersz and Maj. George Morgan
28 July 1976World absolute and class record for sustained altitude (horizontal flight):
85,069 ft		 Capt. Robert Helt and Maj. Larry Elliot
27 July 1976World absolute and class record for speed (1,000 km closed circuit):
2,092.29 mph		 Capt. Pat Blesdoe and Maj. John Fuller

Source: Lockheed Martin press release, Sept. 1991


Sometime history repeats itself.  These 3 crews were to each have set their own record in separate airframes.  Just like the YF-12A speed record attempts from 11 years earlier, all but one airframe developed problems just before the records were to be set.  According to Pat Bledsoe, 958 was used by all 3 crews to set all 3 records.

958 made her last flight on Friday, February 23, 1990, when she was flown to Robins AFB.  Don Watkins and Bob Fowlkes logged the last of her 2288.9 hours.(Lockheed via John Stone)


958 being towed to her final resting place - photo courtesy Jay Miller

958 outside Robins AFB Museum - photo courtesy John Stone
photo courtesy of John Stone


She is now on display at Robins AFB in central Georgia, where she has been restored to her original "high-observable" paint scheme, with the addition of the Ichi Ban banner that only 974 ever sported; perhaps as a tribute to the last blackbird to be lost.

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