F117 stealth fighter

[hallett21]

Where did they go? Such a badass looking plane.

 

[$hot]

They went up then down. Then repeated that process over and over. Only a few went boom

 

[hallett21]

They went up then down. Then repeated that process over and over. Only a few went boom

Such a badass looking plane. Too bad it couldn’t perform

 

[hallett21]

 

[Orange Juice]

I think they had trouble with wing separation at an air show.

I’m pretty sure all the new stuff is pilot-less.

 

[Blackmagic94]

F-117s are being flown again with a test group out of groom lake. Lots of new pics of them flying and they were part of a red flag event in Alaska last year.

 

[Sleek-Jet]

Most of the airframes were put into storage at Tonapah when the AF was done with them. As Blackmagic said above, some are being flown again for training exercises and testing.

 

[Sleek-Jet]

Such a badass looking plane. Too bad it couldn’t perform

Curious why you would say that?

 

[RitcheyRch]

I think they had trouble with wing separation at an air show.

I’m pretty sure all the new stuff is pilot-less.

View attachment 1319279

I worked on the above Northrop X-47B version many years ago. I designed many of the upper skin panels that you see in the above photo.

 

[coolchange]

They’re out there but you just don’t see them because, well, stealth, and shit.

 

[HCP3]

Where did they go? Such a badass looking plane.

F-117 Stealth Jets Are Taking Part In Northern Lightning 2023

Three F-117 jets have deployed to Duluth Air National Guard Base, Minnesota, to take part in Northern Lightning 2023. Northern Lightning is one of seven

theaviationist.com

 

[CLdrinker]

Just watched a documentary on what happened with the F117 that got shot down over Serbia.

Total shit show and a bit of luck. LED that to happening.

 

[Orange Juice]

For your viewing pleasure.

 

[hallett21]

Curious why you would say that?

I misread the first post last night

 

[Bigbore500r]

I love that plane. The story of it's development is a great read. They built a smaller scale flyable proof of concept during development, with mainly off the shelf components from a myriad of airplanes. It was called "Have Blue". If you've never read up on the development and like avaition, check it out!

 

[Blackmagic94]

Rumor is we are flying them again to act as red air in exercises to minic the j-20 dragon stealth fighters as they don’t have a radar cross section equal to the f-35 but closer on par to a f-117 and 1st gen stealth tech from the 1970s.


There is a second rumor that they used a few last year to bomb some high value targets in Syria because they have their own self contained laser designator that is better and stronger then what current jets use and there was a specific need to use due to weather or something I forget that made them more useful then dropping a gps guided bomb on target.

 

[HCP3]

Rumor is we are flying them again to act as red air in exercises to minic the j-20 dragon stealth fighters as they don’t have a radar cross section equal to the f-35 but closer on par to a f-117 and 1st gen stealth tech from the 1970s.


There is a second rumor that they used a few last year to bomb some high value targets in Syria because they have their own self contained laser designator that is better and stronger then what current jets use and there was a specific need to use due to weather or something I forget that made them more useful then dropping a gps guided bomb on target.

The first paragraph is not a rumor. It is definitely happening. Post #11.

 

[DarkHorseRacing]

I love that plane. The story of its development is a great read. They built a smaller scale flyable proof of concept during development, with mainly off the shelf components from a myriad of airplanes. It was called "Have Blue". If you've never read up on the development and like avaition, check it out!

There is a book by Ben Rich that is excellent. He was head of Lockheed Skunk Works after the legendary Clarence Johnson, and it’s a great read directly from the inside brain trust.

 

[Racey]

Such a badass looking plane. Too bad it couldn’t perform

It did perform, and it turned out to be a proven ground to further prove and refine the fly by wire features that de-coupled a pilots inputs from their direct control surface outputs, and instead allowed a computer to process the inputs and then create a combination of multiple control surface outputs to give the desired result.

If i remember right, the first test pilot Hal Farley, on the first flight of the plane, was instructed to leave the flight control augmentation software disabled. They knew the plane was inherently unstable, but these pilots were the best of the best. Well he took off and tried flying it for a while and it was all over the place and so he flipped the system on and the plane immediately stabilized and settled down.

Some really good documentaries have been compiled on the DroneScapes youtube channel.

It became a platform that taught the engineers immense amounts about a lot of different things from stealth to flight controls, to weapon effectiveness.

 

[Roosky01]

Hard to believe it flew for the first time almost 43 years ago. I can't even imagine the stuff we have flying black right now...

 

[hallett21]

It did perform, and it turned out to be a proven ground to further prove and refine the fly by wire features that de-coupled a pilots inputs from their direct control surface outputs, and instead allowed a computer to process the inputs and then create a combination of multiple control surface outputs to give the desired result.

If i remember right, the first test pilot Hal Farley, on the first flight of the plane, was instructed to leave the flight control augmentation software disabled. They knew the plane was inherently unstable, but these pilots were the best of the best. Well he took off and tried flying it for a while and it was all over the place and so he flipped the system on and the plane immediately stabilized and settled down.

Some really good documentaries have been compiled on the DroneScapes youtube channel.

It became a platform that taught the engineers immense amounts about a lot of different things from stealth to flight controls, to weapon effectiveness.

I misread the post last night. I read it went up and came right down lol

 

[traquer]

In Ben Rich's (the head of Skunk Works overseeing F-117A’s development) book "Skunk Works", Col. Barry Horne said that he got his first-hand tangible proof of just how stealthy the jet was when they were stationed at a new base and they kept finding bat corpses littered around the plane.. Turns out the radar the bats use was absorbed and they never "saw" the plane and just kept hitting it as they flew around the hanger.

Also, an anecdotal story, but apparently when the F-117s were demoed and certain military photographers allowed to take pictures, they had to use manual focus because the autofocus beam on their cameras couldn't get a lock on the plane.

 

[Sleek-Jet]

F117s don't absorb the radar energy, instead the airframe bounces the radio waves in a different direction away from the antenna.

According to Rich's book when they were first testing mockups the pole the airframe was sitting on returned a higher radar signature than the model. Lockhead had to build a faceted pole just to prove the concept.

All based on a paper written by a Russian mathematician of all people.

 

[77charger]

I remember mid 80s my guess 85/86 we use to go to keenville lake Isabella often. Uncles friend lived there and we stayed at his place.

But fishing once we saw the f117 flyover had different shape vs regular fighters. Anyhow a while later on another trip he said that plane we saw most likely crashed. Said area was blocked off and military presence was kind of heavy.

He knew planes pretty good at the time too said wasn’t your regular plane didn’t know exactly what it was was til was made public but was the f117 we saw.

 

[WYRD]

For your viewing pleasure.

Holy Shit!

 

[Lunatic Fringe]

Holy Shit!

You can say that again.

 

[GreenEnergy28]

Back in the Desert Shield/Desert Storm days, my buddy was a crew chief on a KC-10. They refueled planes during his entire time over seas. Only fueled the 117 at night, and no photos of the aircraft were permitted. He came home with some bad ass pictures of other planes being refueled.

I remember reading something back in the day that the glass on the windscreen is infused with gold because the piolets head was being picked up by radar in early trials. The gold was used to deflect the radar, not allowing it to pick up inside the cockpit... No telling how much truth there is to that, just thought it sounded cool so it stuck with me. LOL

 

[HB2Havasu]

Hard to believe it flew for the first time almost 43 years ago. I can't even imagine the stuff we have flying black right now...

The Black World Airframes flying today make the F-117 seem like the Wright Flyer!

 

[traquer]

F117s don't absorb the radar energy, instead the airframe bounces the radio waves in a different direction away from the antenna.

Yes you're correct, that's why it was angled in the first place I guess!

 

[hallett21]

Here’s a crazy thought. These two planes are 50-60ish years apart

Michael Hsu / San Diego on Instagram: "P51 mustang flying with F22 Raptor 🇺🇸🫡 . . . . . #aviation #airplane #aviationlovers #aviationgeek #p51 #p51mustang #f22 #f22raptor #military #usa #navy #aviationlovers #aviationdaily #pilot #pilotlife #navylif

114K likes, 878 comments - michaelhsu95 on December 23, 2023: "P51 mustang flying with F22 Raptor 🇺🇸🫡 . . . . . #aviation #airplane #aviationlovers #aviationgeek #p51 #p51mustang #f22 #f22raptor #military #usa #navy #aviationlovers #aviationdaily #pilot #pilotlife #navylife #fighterjet".

www.instagram.com

 

[attitude]

Here’s a crazy thought. These two planes are 50-60ish years apart

Michael Hsu / San Diego on Instagram: "P51 mustang flying with F22 Raptor 🇺🇸🫡 . . . . . #aviation #airplane #aviationlovers #aviationgeek #p51 #p51mustang #f22 #f22raptor #military #usa #navy #aviationlovers #aviationdaily #pilot #pilotlife #navylif

114K likes, 878 comments - michaelhsu95 on December 23, 2023: "P51 mustang flying with F22 Raptor 🇺🇸🫡 . . . . . #aviation #airplane #aviationlovers #aviationgeek #p51 #p51mustang #f22 #f22raptor #military #usa #navy #aviationlovers #aviationdaily #pilot #pilotlife #navylife #fighterjet".

www.instagram.com

I think what is crazier is that a P51 and a F16 are only about 30 years apart. The speed at which technology advanced during that period of time is nuts.

 

[hallett21]

I think what is crazier is that a P51 and a F16 are only about 30 years apart. The speed at which technology advanced during that period of time is nuts.

It doesn’t even seem possible lol

 

[Sleek-Jet]

I think what is crazier is that a P51 and a F16 are only about 30 years apart. The speed at which technology advanced during that period of time is nuts.

There was only a out 40 years between the Wright Flyer and the P51.

Humans are pretty amazing.