Beaded wing panels with structures were cut from a wing panel of the YF-12A, s/n 60-6936. The tags were made from the so-called beaded wing panels—the panels that appear almost like shallow channels or grooves on the upper and lower surfaces of the Blackbird’s wings. These panels were specially designed for the Blackbirds by Kelly Johnson’s team at Skunk Works. Their purpose was to minimize the transfer of extreme heat to the lower fuselage during Mach 3 flight. This was achieved by creating air corridors between the panel’s outer and inner surfaces. Included is a drawing showing the internal structure of the beaded panels, taken from a NASA technical report on the thermal effects observed on the YF-12 at Mach 3 speeds.
Additional information:
Dimensions: approx. 88 mm x 37 mm (3.46″ x 1.45″)
There may be a slight difference between the color shades on your screen and those on the actual tags.
