I had hoped that I might be able to go and see the remains of the Happy Bottom Riding Club, but unfortunately, it is within the base area.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Happy_Bottom_Riding_Club
So I drove west back to Rosamond and then south to Lancaster, where I went to the campus of the Antelope Valley College to see a special aircraft, the Douglas D-558-2 Skyrocket - the first aircraft to exceed Mach 2, flown by Scott Crossfield. This is the third and last example:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_D-558-2_Skyrocket
I nearly gave up on this one, because I had difficulty finding somewhere to park, but I'm glad I didn't.
Then on to my last aircraft stop at Palmdale on the south side of the airport. There are two open-air museums, side-by-side, the Blackbird Airpark and the Joe Davies Heritage Airpark. Both were closed, but I had reasonably good access, looking through the fence.
Lockheed A-12 "OXCART":
This is the first A-12, which was known as "Article 121" for security reasons.
See this website for a lot of interesting information on the A-12 and SR-71:
Declassified Legacy of America's Secret Heroes of NASA and Area 51
Lockheed SR-71A Blackbird:
Spot the differences:
Lockheed D-21B Drone:
Lockheed U-2D Dragon Lady:
