Posted on 06/23/2010 11:13:36 PM PDT by ErnstStavroBlofeld
Hunched over, her eyes fixed downward, Tanya Hart inches across the vast wing of the B-2 stealth bomber one small step at a time, looking for any nicks or hairline scratches in the freshly repainted surface.
Even a tiny blemish could make the B-2 as visible on radar screens as a giant flying tin can. Hart, 50, is the last line of defense for what may be the world's most expensive paint job.
"This isn't a job where you can afford to mess up," said Hart, a "surface technician" for Northrop Grumman Corp., which built the bombers and is now overhauling them.
The B-2 has been called one of the greatest achievements in military technology since the atom bomb. But keeping the massive, bat-winged plane from being detectable by radar is no easy task. It's not cheap, either.
Overhauling a stealth bomber, which must be done every seven years, costs $60 million, on average, and usually takes a year.
The work is done at Northrop's 45-acre complex in Palmdale, where hundreds of workers strip off the plane's paint, panels, nuts and bolts, right down to the frame, before rebuilding it with new paint, parts and equipment.
The cost may be staggering, but the B-2 is no flying bus. Considered the world's most technologically advanced aircraft, it can evade radar to slip behind enemy lines and knock out air defense systems and anti-aircraft missiles.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
Ping
Thank you for these pings Son.
“The cost may be staggering, but the B-2 is no flying bus. Considered the world’s most technologically advanced aircraft, it can evade radar to slip behind enemy lines and knock out air defense systems and anti-aircraft missiles.”
I’ll believe when I see, or hear about, it, in Iran.
You are welcome!
:)
Can a tiny scratch really compromise the aircraft like they say it does?
I’d imagine the quantities of runway debris, ice, hail etc., along the flight path of a B-2 would be enough to more than merely nick away the paint...
TANKS,,,Hopefully the mods are done so they can carry
the MOP and MOAB...
Does that picture show the B2 just broke the sound barrier? I didn’t think they could go supersonic.
Can't speak about ice, hail, etc...nature happens.
That was my question too.
Vapor cones are not always the result of breaking the sound barrier. I’ve seen many on demonstration aircraft that were nowhere near the speed of sound. It’s all about low pressure and high humidity.
The true sound barrier effects show a much more distinct cone.
This photo seems like a photoshop for some reason. ...the vapor on the underside (high pressure) area of the aircraft is unusual.
From the Photographer, Bobbi Garcia:
As for how I got the shot. I was in a chase F-16 being flown by Maj "Bernie" Cassidy. Between test points we would try to capture the condensation on still film. The camera I was using was a Hasselblad with a power winder (equates to about 1 frame per second) and the vapors only happen briefly and sporadically. As you can imagine, there was a little "spaz action" going on, trying not to take any unnecessary photos that would cause the power winder to be busy when I needed to be actually shooting.
We were fairly low in altitude when the shot was taken, and heading home from the mission.
There is enough moisture over the ocean to actually cause that phenomon to happen at various speeds, not just supersonic. That is why people on the navy carriers can get that shot more often than most land-based aircraft photographers.
That’s it’s anti-radar cloaking device turned on.
“Even a tiny blemish could make the B-2 as visible on radar screens as a giant flying tin can.”
Even a tiny blemish? Or a light coat of foggy, misty moisture? Minute patches of ice? Dust? Bistatic radar systems with the receiver and transmitter separated?
Transwarp drive engaging.
That’s what I asked, and want to know, too.
It is low pressure caused by the air having to move faster around a fat flying wing to get there in time to match the speed at which the object is moving through the air mass. The faster it goes, the more defined it becomes. At max speed, the flow over the wing is indeed supersonic, but it is only locally over the thickest part of the wing, the aircraft itself never goes supersonic.
It would be a great crowd pleaser to bring it in low over an airshow at max speed in humid conditions and pull some G’s creating the “cotton ball”. But it would not be over show center for very long. However, it would be worth it.
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