MN Air Guard Museum to Lose Its A-12

Although A-12 has nothing to do with Taiwan, as a fan of “blackbirds”, I can not resist… 

Rick Wargo, a friend of mine living in Minneapolis/St. Paul in the US, sent me the following message written by James Goodall, a renowned aviation author of A-12/M-21/YF-12/SR-71 Blackbirds:

To one and all;
Well it looks like the MN Air Guard Museum will more than likely [lose] its A-12 Blackbird.  Our A-12, #128 the only complete A-12 of the nine currently on display has been chosen by the CIA to be their new gate guard at their Langley Headquarters.
 
Now mind you they didn’t go after any of the three A-12s in Alabama, that’s right, Alabama has three A-12’s and of the three operational A-12s of Black Shield, the two survivors are in Alabama, 930 in Huntsville and 937 in a field in Birmingham, both out side and both in worse shape than 931.  Not one person in the State of Alabama with the dedication of the MN Air Guard Museum staff to take care of the bird the way our guys have since I’ve been away.
 
The third A-12 in Alabama, 938,down in Mobile, was all but wiped out due to last years two hurricanes.  I saw some shots of it on the web and it looked almost beyond repair.
 
For all of the thousands of hours I and dozens of other members of the Minnesota Air Guard put into the getting this fabulous Blackbird to Minnesota, to all of those of us that works so hard to make our A-12 the best example of the type out there, this is a slap in the face to all of us who spent the time and effort over the years to make it happen.
 
With sadness……….Jim

I had an opportunity to see this particular A-12 in person.  That was in 2001.  When I had to wait several hours at MSP Airport for my connection flight back to Taipei, Rick came to see me and took me for a ride in the neighborhood.  The MN Air Guard Museum is located on the same compound as the airport and so we went there to see if we could get in.  (It was a weekday and we did not know if the general public were welcomed before we went.)  At the gate, Rick identfied himself as a Northwest Airlines employee by showing his badge to the guard and asked if he could take a guest (which was I) to see the museum.  The guard nodded and it was as simple as that.

Before the visit, I had heard that this airframe was in the best condition among all surviving A-12.  I was not disappointed.  Goodall and many other volunteers had done a great job to keep it in such a good shape that it looked as if it had been an operational aircraft. 

I had seen the A-12 in New York’s Intrepid Sea, Air, and Space Museum several times before that.  But it was really in a poor condition.  During my first two visits, the aircraft was not roped off and I was able to touch the aircraft with my hand.  (It’s not good for the aircraft, I know.  But who can resist touching a Blackbird?)  When I saw it last time in 1996, it was still on the open-air display.  Later I heard that the museum moved it into an indoor area.  But the damage has been done.