F-117 flying again?

did you drive up on the sidewalk?

 

LOL! I was wondering the same thing after seeing the angle where the 993 is parked in the lot.

 

I took a photo or two with the car in the parking lot and the gentleman staffing the small visitor center wandered over and asked my lovely bride why I didn't pull my car up on the sidewalk for a better photo. We didn't want to be rude, so we were happy to oblige. He obviously got a kick out of interacting with visitors and making sure people enjoyed their visit. Certainly made my day. Here's a few others:
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It's really no secret that when they retired the F-117's, they moved the majority of them back to Tonopah(where they were originally based) and still use them as a weapons "test bed" among other things. I don't think there is really any significant find on the videos here. The US Air Force, and the US Navy routinely fly "retired" aircraft for testing, albeit top secret or not.

 

Yeah.... I still see F-4s flying a few times a year. As recently as four years ago I have seen four ship formation of them in a green paint scheme, not the orange tail drones.

 

Mark- The Germans were flying F-4Fs out of Holloman AFB very recently. They have also flown them at Red Flags.

Taz
Terry Phillips

 

Found this photo, but don't have any information about when or where it was originally taken.
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Yeah, these were definitely USAF birds. Can't remember the tail flash but I have pictures of them someplace.

Any idea how many F-4s the Germans have left? I vaguely skimmed an article in one of the aviation mags recently about it being the end of the run for one of their squadrons but can't remember if there were more left.

If I remember correctly the F-117 was designed so the wings could be removed easily so they could be transported by C-5. Also from the old memory banks I think there was at least one lost (at an airshow?) when one of the wings wasn't quite installed correctly after transport. Something about a pin being put in backwards?

 

True, maybe "Top Secret" wasn't the right word, because the F-117 wasn't completely Top Secret when it was retired. Remember though, the F-117 was flying with active squadron out of Tonopah for several years before it was publicly acknowledged. They still fly it to this day, that's pretty well known. Also, how are you absolutely sure they don't fly the SR-71 anymore?? I think most would people would be surprised to find out what's flying out of central Nevada.

 

Best I've heard the name came from a F-117A test pilot who, on an early test flight, described the aircraft as feeling like a "wobbly goblin" before an [undescribed] computer compensation kicked in. The comment was overheard by an aviation journalist, and the nickname was born.

 

All the airframes are accounted for (unfortunately), there are a few good tables on the wikipedia pages with the dispositions. Its one aircraft I really wish I could have seen in flight.

Makes me happy that the '117 might be flying again though. I was lucky enough to sit in the cockpit of one back in the late 90's, active ejection seat and everything ;-) ...still have the pictures, somewhere...

 

It appears to coincide with the rumors, being stored at Area 52 TTR in a climate controlled hangar.

 

Shoot, even Mach 1 was just a dream... wouldn't even do that.

 

F/A-18 engines with no afterburners. No thought of ever going supsersonic. Transonic airflow (~ mach 0.92- 1.04) screws up bomb ballistics, even if they were laser guided (GBU-10/12/27). Supercruise (mach 1+ in military power) is only now happening with the F-22A, although I did lose a case of beer bet that F-111F 70-2400 would not go supersonic in mil. It did (mach 1.1 at FL240). Fastest F-111 ever built.

Taz
Terry Phillips

 

These images were posted elsewhere on the 'net with comments about the F-117 being "scrapped", and no one challenging what was stated.

So, I needed a definitive answer and, according to aerospaceweb.org:

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Reagan originally started Stealth as a way to bankrupt the USSR & it worked

USSR realized it would cost more $ than they had to develop the tech to track Stealth so it helped destroy the USSR

 

I think Regan's "Star Wars" SDI had more to do with it than stealth planes...

 

I plan on going to Blackbird park in Palmdale and hope to see the F117 there. It was on display for a while but saw a recent youtube video where it was no longer there and the guy filming said it was moved. I should be there June 1st. Hope they didn't scrap it.

 

An amazing aircraft indeed, the F-111F. Much like a hard wing F-4, not much would go faster, faster.

 

Is it true that the F35 and F22 have better stealth than the F117?

 

No, purely on radar stealth, they are equally capable of low radar signatures.

The differentiating factor with the F-117 is it is an obsolete platform to carry ordinance to the battlefield. The F-117 is an aged airframe and with gripes and rumors that the radar absorbing skin is a bit of a hassle to maintain even after a intense rainstorm, that makes it an expensive platform to keep airborne.