About the “Hijacked” Blackbird

Feb. 27, 2007

Audio of this article is brought to you by the Air & Space Forces Association, honoring and supporting our Airmen, Guardians, and their families. Find out more at afa.org

Minnesotans have enlisted the aid of their US Senators—Republican Norm Coleman and Democrat Amy Klobuchar—to try to get the A-12 Blackbird spy plane returned to the state for continued display at the Air National Guard Museum. Now, the Pioneer Press reports that the issue has caught the attention of former CIA pilot (and son of the Learjet founder) John Lear, who calls the forced return of the aircraft—after Minnesota veterans refurbished it—to the Air Force, which turned it over to the CIA for a display, a “royal rip-off.” Lear vows to “pull every string” to get the A-12 back to Minnesota.

Audio of this article is brought to you by the Air & Space Forces Association, honoring and supporting our Airmen, Guardians, and their families. Find out more at afa.org

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