Air Refueling the A-12 and SR-71 Blackbird
Here are a bunch of pictures of aerial refueling with the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird and A-12 Oxcart. Feel free to leave comments below about your experiences and as always, please email me your pictures at the email address listed to the right.

SR-71A #61-7952 during the first ever in-flight refuelling of an SR-71, on 29April1965. Lockheed photo via Tony Landis

ca. 1991, NASA Dryden Flight Research Facility, Edwards Air Force Base, California, USA — NASA’s triple-sonic SR-71B experimental reconnaisance jet flies up to the refueling probe from an aerial tanker near Edwards Air Force Base, California. 1991. — Image by © CORBIS

A left side view of an SR-71 aircraft moving toward a KC-135 Stratotanker aircraft for inflight refueling. The SR-71 is from the 9th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing.

Lockheed SR-71 in flight refueling. SR-71A (S/N 61-7952) refuels from KC-135A (S/N 58-0094). (U.S. Air Force photo)
Image Source:
Various
My father Wayne Edwards was a boom operator in the 60’s until 1971. We were based at Beale Air force base from 1967-71, When dad retired. But he was assigned to the SR 71. He was very proud of his involvement, and so are we. Sadly dad died in 2009. We choose to use a picture he had of him in a KC 135 refueling the Blackbird, on his headstone, it is beautiful. Thank you for allowing me to tell you a piece of who he was, he was my hero.
I’m sorry to hear about your dad’s passing, but having that on his headstone must look great!
First let me extend my condolences to the Edwards family. I knew him well at Beale AFB.
I spent eight years at Beale flying in KC-135-Q’s. I saw my first A-12 behind our Tanker in mid-1964. It was like something out of Buck Rogers Science fiction. Early on the “Q” tanker guys were looked down on. We were excused from Alert Duty, wouldn’t tell anyone what we were doing and “got” to go TDY a lot! Until mid-1968 or so, we were the exclusive aerial refueling support for the A-12/SR-71/YF-12 aircraft. The 903rd ARS had the only ” full-Q” tankers. Later Little Rock and McCoy were modified and became “partial-Q’s”, lacking some navigational aids.
During the Test/Eval period we refueled the Blackbirds out of Groom Lake and Edwards AFB at many different altitudes and speeds. After going “down hill” in KC-97’s to go fast enough for B-52’s we had to “down hill” for the Blackbird as it got heavier and needed more speed.
I later returned to Beale for another four years in the 9th ARW in the Aircraft Maintenance field.
It was my experience that the tanker fleet didn’t always get the credit they earned, however speak to some of the “Recievers” about the value of the “Gas Station” at 26000 feet, usually they were happy to see us, especially 3000 miles from the nearest runway.
V//R
Col. (Ret.) William L. Spacy, USAF
The aircraft in the picture showing the 36U Boom is not an SR-71 it is the TA-12 “Titanium Goose” 2 seat trainer