@ Edwards AFB, CA
October 2022
Centerpiece of the 2022 Aerospace Valley Airshow @ Edwards AFB was undoubtedly the Lockheed Martin Darkstar mockup from the movie Top Gun: Maverick, seen here posed with SR-71 #955 and a L-1011 Stargazer airborne launch aircraft.
First flown in 1966, the SR-71 fleet were in service with the US Air Force until 1998. NASA operated two of them until 1999. Of the 32 built, twelve were lost in accidents. SR-71 #955 was intended to have a flying career as a Stateside test vehicle. However, in 1983 #955 was flown to Beale and repainted with tail number #962 and then flew to RAF Mildenhall via the Barents Sea where she photographed Russian subs using a new Synthetic Aperture Radar System.
The 2022 hit movie Top Gun: Maverick featured a fictional hypersonic “Darkstar” aircraft that was based on the SR-72 and concepted by Lockheed Martin Skunk Works engineers for the film.
Used by Northrop Grumman (and formerly Orbital Sciences Corp) Stargazer is the only L-1011 airframe still airworthy. This L-1011 TriStar first flew in February 1974, and later delivered to Air Canada. It was acquired by Orbital Sciences in May 1992, as of 2019 44 airborne launches have been conducted with Stargazer.
