It will never fly.
(/sarcasm)
Posted on 04/22/2008 11:08:48 AM PDT by jazusamo
The Air Force and Lockheed Martin are giving a secret retirement send-off to the world's first radar-evading fighter.
They were born shrouded in mystery in a windowless building in Burbank. They flew combat missions over Serbia and Iraq virtually invisible to enemy radar. And today, the black, bat-like F-117A Night Hawks will fly quietly into the night as stealthily as they came.
The last four of the world's first stealth fighters will make their final flights from Palmdale to a secret desert base in Nevada, where they will be locked up indefinitely in a secure concrete hangar.
But unlike the passing of other notable planes, there will be no public fanfare or farewell for these mysterious aircraft that revolutionized aerial warfare. The F-117 is still so cloaked in secrecy that only employees and retirees who worked on the program can attend its retirement ceremony at Lockheed Martin Corp.'s Skunk Works plant in Palmdale. A few aerospace reporters have been invited, but they had to be U.S. citizens.
"Some aspects of the plane are still classified," said Dianne Knippel, spokeswoman for Lockheed, whose legendary Skunk Works design house, formerly in Burbank and now in Palmdale, developed and built the aircraft.
The hushed send-off is no surprise to aviation buffs and historians who have followed one of the nation's most secretive aircraft programs since the Pentagon covertly launched it more than 30 years ago.
"It reflects a hyper-security culture that has accompanied this thing since the beginning," said John Pike, a defense policy analyst with . "It's the nation's first stealth technology, and as a result you might imagine all the caution with security."
The single-seat F-117 was the first plane that could evade radar detection; it was designed to fly into heavily defended areas to knock out radar installations and anti-aircraft missile...
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
It will never fly.
(/sarcasm)
Ain’t it the truth? :)
Wow, I’m getting old! I remember when the shroud of secrecy was first lifted.
I had corner office with floor-to-ceiling windows that was right along the flight approach to Dobbins Air Force Base in Marietta, GA. One of, if not the first air-show to showcase the F-117 was held there. I was on an afternoon conference call when this thing flew right by my office. I was speechless and spell-bound. What an awesome sight!
And now, to see them being retired! Hope to see one in the Smithsonian someday.
I never even knew you were here...
There should definitely be one in the Smithsonian one day, it was a huge advancement in air technology.
Yeah, but they're not happy about it. And they'll deny it if questioned.
What plane are you talking about?
Plane? You’re imagining this thread.
Seems like they’re retiring them awfully early.....
Glad to have that cleared up...we were thinking maybe you were going anti-social on us or something.
You’re right and the vast majority of aerospace reporters don’t fit in the same mold as the leftists.
....have a beer!
I've always wondered how the pilot can see the controls and gauges.
Too many pinkos work at the Smithsonian; it would have to be a complete mock up.
(I look for an excuse to post this picture, that is the Feb. launch of the space shuttle int he background)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.