I happen to love secret black projects. Particuarly stealth aircraft and technology. Ever since I heard back in the late 80’s and early 90’s about the rumored stealthy AURORA hypersonic spyplane, I knew I had to create a special display. This whole display was created during the 2010’s.
The majority of aircraft are all 1/144 scale except for the old Testor XR-7 Thunder Dart kit which is 1/72 scale. The base is black acrylic sheet, then bought some Top Secret and warning stripe decals.
Project AURORA: “It is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma.”
Aurora, Blackstar, Brilliant Buzzard, SR-72, SR-75 Penetrator. All names and designations given over the years to a highly advanced and secretive Mach 3-6+ hypersonic aerial vehicle supposedly built, flight tested, and operational with the U.S. Air Force in order to replace the retired Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird reconnaissance aircraft. The name Aurora accidentally surfaced in a 1985 Pentagon budget request due to a censor’s slip. It appeared below the SR-71 and U-2 spyplanes, and was listed in a budget line that called for production funds in 1987. Ever since that infamous “slip”, aviation researchers and enthusiasts around the world have been entranced by this most secretive & elusive subject.
But what is Aurora? What does it do? Who built it? How many are there? How fast does it go? These questions and more will forever be mired in speculation. The earliest accounts of Aurora (After the 1985 budget slip.) come from the late 1980’s and early 1990’s when reports came in describing a very fast high flying triangular shaped aircraft leaving sonic booms and unusually shaped “doughnuts on a rope” type contrails in the skies over the western U.S… There was even one report from an oil engineer in the North Sea (Northern Atlantic Ocean area) who saw a dark triangular aircraft refueling from a KC-135 tanker, and flanked by two F-111 aircraft!
As for what Aurora could be? The designs and concepts over the years vary greatly. Perhaps it is an airframe to test advanced aerodynamic concepts? Or testing of propulsion systems such as Ramjets, Scramjets, Pulse Detonation Wave engines, Combined Cycle engines, Methane & Liquid Hydrogen fuels, etc.? Or maybe something operational with the U.S. Air Force and/or other agencies (DARPA, NASA) that could run the gamut from a reconnaissance vehicle to first strike bomber, or even a single stage to orbit space-plane to loft payloads into low earth orbit? Whatever the case might be, speculation and rumors have run rampant about this subject for the last 25-30+ years. But here’s what is known for sure:
It is at least triangular shaped with a high degree wing sweep.
Very high flying. Maybe 80,000 to 100,000+ feet.
Very fast. Presumably Mach 3 to 6 or more.
Most likely flight tested at Groom Lake (Area 51), Nevada.
Best bet is that it is built by Lockheed’s “Skunk Works”.
Primary operational user would be the U.S. Air Force.
Until such time as the Air Force or Pentagon can confirm the existence of the Aurora, then all the public can do is simply watch the skies and guess.
MODEL NOTES BELOW:
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SR-91 AURORA – 1/144 scale resin model by Anigrand Craftswork. Painted in overall Testor Model Master Acryl # 4768 Flat Black.
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SR-75 PENETRATOR – 1/144 scale resin model by Anigrand Craftswork. Painted in overall Testor Model Master Acryl # 4763 Flat Gull Gray, and Testor Model Master Acryl # 4768 Flat Black.
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LOCKHEED SR-72 – 1/144 scale resin model by Fantastic Plastic. Painted in Testor Model Master Acryl Dark Gull Grey FS36231.
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XR-7 THUNDER DART – 1/72 scale model by Testors. Painted in overall Testor Model Master Acryl # 4768 Flat Black.
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SR-71 BLACKBIRD - 1/144 scale pre-assembled/painted desktop model by Dragon Wings. Part of their “Warbirds Series” collection.
NOTE: Although not an “Aurora” design, the SR-71 Blackbird has been displayed with the other Aurora models as most or all Aurora concepts were for a supposed follow-on replacement to the SR-71 Blackbird aircraft. The SR-71 was the fastest (Mach 3+) and highest flying (80,000+ feet) powered aircraft developed by Lockheed and used by the U.S. Air Force, and this is what the Aurora is or was trying to emulate. Therefore, it is only fair to include the SR-71 as part of the display to show some sort of evolution or lineage so to speak, i.e. – the SR-71 being a “protégé or precursor” of sorts to the Aurora.
BELOW: Only book that I know of that has ever been written about the supposed AURORA spyplane.
