Museum says prized spy plane hijacked

Posted on: Jan. 26th, 2007 || Source: twincities.com | E-mail Article | Print Article

One of the fastest jets that ever flew is being dismantled at a snail's pace, and retired Col. Richard Wiessner can't stand it.

"I hate it," he said Thursday as he stood on the tarmac of the Minnesota Air National Guard station at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. "The logic is just wrong. We were the ones who got it here, and they're taking it away from us."

Air Force contractors this week began taking apart the A-12 Blackbird spy plane that local veterans, including Wiessner and his fellow board of directors at the Minnesota Air Guard Museum, rescued from a California scrap heap more than a decade ago.

They raised thousands of dollars to move it here and worked thousands of hours to refurbish it. And they proudly put it on display at the museum near Fort Snelling.

"This was ready to go to the scrap yard. We saved it," said retired Master Sgt. Ted Hoeben.

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