My Search for A-12 #928

Greetings everyone.
I am on my annual sojourn to the Nevada desert. Already spent a few days making the camo dudes earn their pay. One item on my bucket list was trying to find the 1967 crash site of A-12/SR-71 Blackbird #928 piloted by Walt Ray. After a long, strenuous day quadding in and out of various ravines, on basically a wild-goose-chase, I was unable to locate it.

I would appreciate if someone in the know (Mr. Merlin?) could give me some tips on where to look? A PM please.

I spent some time at the A-12 crash site near Wendover, NV. There is still quite a bit of debris there, small pieces of titanium and chunks of black-coated asbestos (DON'T TOUCH!).

Wendover is a cool site they left a lot behind for a Top Secret Crash, I went there a few years back
I Found 928 last summer after multiple trips over 10 years and many many hour on the internet. There is still a good amount of debris there and I looked to me like not that many people were there. Tom was right his story does tell how to find it. What made it so much fun finding it was that it was hard to find. I wouldn't to spoil that for you.
I also searched for the U-2 941 last summer sadly it still remains on my bucket list

PM me numbers on where you searched and i tell if you were close

originally posted by: unclewall
Wendover is a cool site they left a lot behind for a Top Secret Crash, I went there a few years back
I Found 928 last summer after multiple trips over 10 years and many many hour on the internet. There is still a good amount of debris there and I looked to me like not that many people were there. Tom was right his story does tell how to find it. What made it so much fun finding it was that it was hard to find. I wouldn't to spoil that for you.
I also searched for the U-2 941 last summer sadly it still remains on my bucket list

PM me numbers on where you searched and i tell if you were close

Actually you might have found the 928 debris that Tom Mahood and everyone else including me missed. There are photos on the Roadrunnersinternationale.com website, but I have no idea if they took debris or not.

All I found were shards mostly.

originally posted by: unclewall
Wendover is a cool site they left a lot behind for a Top Secret Crash, I went there a few years back
I Found 928 last summer after multiple trips over 10 years and many many hour on the internet. There is still a good amount of debris there and I looked to me like not that many people were there. Tom was right his story does tell how to find it. What made it so much fun finding it was that it was hard to find. I wouldn't to spoil that for you.
I also searched for the U-2 941 last summer sadly it still remains on my bucket list

PM me numbers on where you searched and i tell if you were close

Someone has given me additional clues, that indicate where I was searching was slightly too far south.
One thing that threw me off was where Leith, NV actually is. There are ruins there, but some maps show Leith farther south, it appears the railway has a marker there. So if you are using Leith as part of search directions it can throw you off. Thanks though!

Obviously the hardcore of this forum (yourself, Gariac, Shadowhawk etc. ) are well beyond Tom Manhoods well detailed trip report documenting the hunt and eventual discovery of the crash site.

However, for anyone else reading along unfamiliar with the hunt for the actual crash site of Walter Ray's Article 12 #928, dreamlandresort.com has a fantasticly well detailed account of Tom's adventure...

The hunt for 928 or: Has anybody seen this spy plane?

Be sure to read the whole tale listed through the hyperlinks at the bottom of the linked page

a reply to: Drunkenparrot

Toms story is what got me interested looking for plane crashes, Which over the years I found a few and had a great time doing it

To this day if you Google worlds fastest airplane it shows the Blackbird as worlds fastest
Not bad for a plane that first flew in 1962

a reply to: Drunkenparrot

www.otherhand.org...

This is Tom Mahood's current website. I'm not sure if the details regarding 928 are any different. But the new site has more entertaining stories.

I assume the dreamland website archived the old "bluefire" website.

An update - I did find the impact point, and quite a spread of crash debris.
I will post some pictures in the next few days.
A tip to fellow searchers - if you find the pile of old tin cans, you have arrived.

originally posted by: FosterVS
An update - I did find the impact point, and quite a spread of crash debris.
I will post some pictures in the next few days.
A tip to fellow searchers - if you find the pile of old tin cans, you have arrived.

Good job finding the crash
If you post pictures make sure they don't have gps tags or any thing to give away it's location, Being hard to find is what makes 928 interesting.

a reply to: unclewall

The interesting thing about the general area of the crash site is there is plenty of debris not associated with the crash. That was where I found my first military flare ceramic debris. There is the remains of what I assume is a failed chaff pack not far from 928. The A-12 didn't use such countermeasures. (Failed as in a bunch of aluminum spaghetti caught in a bush.)

a reply to: gariac

Yes, the area where the A-12 crashed in directly underneath airspace where a lot of Red Flag air combat maneuver training takes place. I saw flare and chaff pack remnants everywhere. There are also several other crash sites nearby, the nearest being an F-15E (AFSN 89-0479) that crashed on 10 August 1992.

The pile of tin cans near the A-12 impact point appears to have been a camp site for the unfortunate security personnel assigned to remain overnight guarding the wreckage.

Looking up at coordinates of impact point

Some of many misc. crash debris pieces, including black skin section. Which pretty well confirms the aircraft.

Large piece of crash debris

My transport

originally posted by: Shadowhawk
a reply to: gariac

Yes, the area where the A-12 crashed in directly underneath airspace where a lot of Red Flag air combat maneuver training takes place. I saw flare and chaff pack remnants everywhere. There are also several other crash sites nearby, the nearest being an F-15E (AFSN 89-0479) that crashed on 10 August 1992.

The pile of tin cans near the A-12 impact point appears to have been a camp site for the unfortunate security personnel assigned to remain overnight guarding the wreckage.

At one point in time, there were enough archive imagery on Google Earth that you could see the road to the F-15 crash site "appear". But Google Earth has dropped enough of the older imagery to the point where the road the USAF cut is in every dataset.

originally posted by: Shadowhawk
a reply to: gariac

Yes, the area where the A-12 crashed in directly underneath airspace where a lot of Red Flag air combat maneuver training takes place. I saw flare and chaff pack remnants everywhere. There are also several other crash sites nearby, the nearest being an F-15E (AFSN 89-0479) that crashed on 10 August 1992.

The pile of tin cans near the A-12 impact point appears to have been a camp site for the unfortunate security personnel assigned to remain overnight guarding the wreckage.

Is this associated with a "chaff pack"?
Foil and mylar roll.
Found amidst other crash debris.

a reply to: FosterVS

The chaff pack was some distance away from the crash site and probably not related.

The foil roll is interesting. I have no idea what it is used for.

originally posted by: gariac
a reply to: FosterVS

The chaff pack was some distance away from the crash site and probably not related.

The foil roll is interesting. I have no idea what it is used for.

Guts of a big electrolytic capacitor? I'll post a close-up of it.

originally posted by: FosterVS

originally posted by: gariac
a reply to: FosterVS

The chaff pack was some distance away from the crash site and probably not related.

The foil roll is interesting. I have no idea what it is used for.

Guts of a big electrolytic capacitor? I'll post a close-up of it.

Wound-film capacitor?

Hi how's it going. Did you ever find U 2 341 Robert Seikers plane. I located it a little over a year ago. Not much left at all. I'd be interested in trading info about 928. I've been to 925 and SR 71 965 in lovelock. I study aviation archaeology and have been to many sites in the Sierra and Mojave. Congrats on finding 938 I think I'm close but not enough to warrant a trip.

originally posted by: tce77

Hi how's it going. Did you ever find U 2 341 Robert Seikers plane. I located it a little over a year ago. Not much left at all. I'd be interested in trading info about 928. I've been to 925 and SR 71 965 in lovelock. I study aviation archaeology and have been to many sites in the Sierra and Mojave. Congrats on finding 938 I think I'm close but not enough to warrant a trip.

Was this directed at me? If so, send me a PM and I will give you my email address.

originally posted by: tce77

Hi how's it going. Did you ever find U 2 341 Robert Seikers plane. I located it a little over a year ago. Not much left at all. I'd be interested in trading info about 928. I've been to 925 and SR 71 965 in lovelock. I study aviation archaeology and have been to many sites in the Sierra and Mojave. Congrats on finding 938 I think I'm close but not enough to warrant a trip.

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