The A-12 Avenger II Program: The End is Near

It's hard to believe that it has been more than two years since I last updated the status of the A-12 Avenger II program and its termination is still not yet complete from a financial standpoint. See http://thanlont.blogspot.com/2011/05/12-it-aint-over-until-its-over.html

For a prior post and links to four (!) more on the A-12 in this blog, see http://thanlont.blogspot.com/2011/01/gift-that-keeps-on-giving-final-chapter.html

The program was, of course, canceled back in 1991, but like Jarndyce v. Jarndyce in Dickens' Bleak House, it has lingered on as a lawyer's dream.

However, according to an online Aviation Week note dated 21 May 2013:

In a sign of movement in the epic legal battle over the A-12 Avenger II, the Obama administration is asking Congress to allow the Navy to accept a settlement in the case.

In a letter outlining amendments to the administration’s fiscal 2014 request for appropriations, the Pentagon is seeking legislation that would “authorize the Secretary of the Navy to accept and retain in-kind goods and services in lieu of monetary payment, for the purposes of a settlement of the A-12 aircraft litigation.”

More importantly for aviation history, the A-12 mockup has finally been moved to the Veterans Memorial Air Park in Fort Worth, Texas.

 Bill Spidle Photo

The Air Park is a nice little (and growing) aviation museum north of town and just south of Meacham Field with several aircraft on display outdoors. It's well worth a visit. See http://www.veteransmemorialairpark.com/home1.aspx

The full-scale mockup was displayed at an open house in 1996 at Carswell Air Force Base.

The mockup looks a lot better than I thought it would after more than two decades of storage, mostly outside, and hopefully the museum can refurbish it and provide a suitable venue for its display.