NEVADA AEROSPACE HALL OF FAME

Declaration of Enshrinement

October 10, 2017

HUGH “SLIP” SLATER

The NVAHOF has inducted Hugh “Slip” Slater for his service for the Central Intelligence Agency as a US Air Force officer who, in the 1960s, served as the operations officer for two years and then as commander for two more years.

Under Slater’s command, the CIA’s Project OXCART produced the A-12 reconnaissance aircraft, a stealthy, fast, and high-flying replacement for the U-2 reconnaissance plane. Using slide rule technology, Project OXCART designed and built America’s first stealth plane that today is still the fastest and highest flying manned air-breathing aircraft ever.

Rotating out of Area 51 to Kadena, Okinawa, Slater commanded Operation BLACK SHIELD to fly 29 operational surveillance missions during Operation BLACK SHIELD, 26 over South East Asia and three over North Korea. The SEA flights sought surface-to-surface missile sites, and the North Korean flights were in response to the North Korean seizure of the USS Pueblo and its crew.

Under Slater’s command, Area 51 expanded the pioneering of Mach-3 flight with the YF-12 Mach 3 interceptor prototype during Project Kedlock, and the development of a Mach 3+ drone launched from a Mach 3 mother ship during Project Tagboard.

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T.D. BARNES, Executive Director

Nevada Aerospace Hall of Fame