Original McDonnell Douglas A-12 Avenger II Concept Photo 8x10 1990 For Sale

Original McDonnell Douglas A-12 Avenger II
Concept Photo 8x10 1990
Official Press Print, McDonnell Douglas St. Louis ArchiveDESCRIPTIONOriginal 8x10 press print of the McDonnell Douglas/General Dynamics A-12 Avenger II, the U.S. Navy's stealth attack aircraft program that was canceled before a single example ever left the ground.The reverse carries the official McDonnell Douglas Corp., St. Louis document stamp reading "D4C-121496-1" with a typed date of 8/90, placing this print just five months before the program's dramatic cancellation in January 1991.Because the A-12 never flew, no genuine in-flight photograph of the aircraft exists anywhere.
What you're looking at is McDonnell Douglas's own official concept artwork, produced to promote the Avenger II's radical flying-wing "diamond" design to the Navy and the public while the program was still alive.It shows the aircraft banking through a dramatic cloudscape, viewed from below, with a carrier battle group visible on the water far beneath it, dated just as the program was quietly unraveling behind the scenes.The A-12 was meant to replace the aging A-6 Intruder as the Navy's all-weather carrier-based strike aircraft, taking its name from the WWII Grumman TBF Avenger torpedo bomber.Cost overruns and technical delays came to a head in December 1990, when Defense Secretary Dick Cheney demanded the Navy justify the program.Unsatisfied with the answer, he terminated it for breach of contract on January 7, 1991, with the government seeking repayment of roughly $2 billion already spent on development.The fight over the cancellation ran through the Court of Federal Claims, the Federal Circuit, and the U.S. Supreme Court for 23 years before a January 2014 settlement in which Boeing and General Dynamics each paid the Navy $200 million. The saga is chronicled in the definitive book on the program's downfall, titled "The $5 Billion Misunderstanding."A strong piece for collectors of Cold War black programs, canceled aircraft, or McDonnell Douglas corporate history. This print predates the cancellation and comes straight from the manufacturer's own archive.Every effort is made toward fact checking and provenance, including background research through news and historical archives. If any listing is incorrect in any way and you're unsatisfied with the item, please connect with me and I'll make it right.Orders placed before Noon CDT will ship same day Ground Advantage with tracking so you know exactly when it will arrive. Returns accepted on all items exceeding $25 in cost. Rigid, professional packaging on all shipments, sealed and protected in acid free protectors. Shipping is free and already built into the price, so the BIN price is exactly what you pay, no surprise shipping costs at checkout.CONDITIONExcellent, clean condition. Colors remain vivid and unfaded, with sharp corners and no creases, tears, stains, or writing on the image side. The reverse carries the typed McDonnell Douglas St. Louis caption block, with light handling wear consistent with decades of archive storage. No punch holes, no mounting residue, no library or press-service stamps beyond the original McDonnell Douglas documentation.

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