The most successful part of the XF-12 flight history is "Operation Birds Eye." The mission was conceived to demonstrate the newly designated XF-12's ultimate photo capabilities. On 1 September 1948, the second prototype XF-12 departed U.S. Air Force Flight Test Center at Muroc, California, and climbed westward to gain altitude over the Pacific Ocean. Upon reaching its 40,000 ft cruising altitude, the XF-12 headed eastward and began photographing its entire flight path over the United States. The crew shot a continuous 325 foot-long strip of film composed of 390 individual photos (10 inches per photo) covering a 490-mile-wide field of vision. The aircraft landed at Mitchel Field at Garden City, Long Island, New York, completing a flight lasting six hours and 55 minutes at 361 mph average speed (approx. 1m4s per photo). The record-shattering flight was featured in the 29 November 1948 issue of "Life" magazine and the actual filmstrip went on exhibit at the 1948 U.S. Air Force Association Convention in New York.