Farewell to the F-117

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Silverstar

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DAYTON, Ohio (AP) ? The world's first attack aircraft to employ stealth technology is slipping quietly into history.

The inky black, angular, radar-evading F-117, which spent 27 years in the Air Force arsenal secretly patrolling hostile skies from Serbia to Iraq, will be put in mothballs next month in Nevada.
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It was very unique plane. I got to see the last flight of one of the F-117's which had the flag painted underbelly at the Edwards AFB air show a couple years back, got some good pictures of it stored away.

It's good to know that they'll be stored very contently at Tonopah, ready to fly again some day...personally I think it's a bit early for the plane to go down, though it is opening funding towards future weapons platforms.

It surely has served its purpose, and current planes in/going to be in service will do it's job well.
 
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Makes sense, but a shame to see it go.

The Air Force decided to accelerate the retirement of the F-117s to free up funding to modernize the rest of the fleet. The F-117 is being replaced by the F-22 Raptor, which also has stealth technology.
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800px-F-117_Nighthawk_Front.JPEG
 
I remember seein one at an air show on base a few years back. it looked incredible
 
Was it not nicknamed the Hopeless Diamond for its poor flight abilities?
 
Not that I know of. Actually the F-117 flies very well.
 
Blind_Io said:
Not that I know of. Actually the F-117 flies very well.
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I hear it is impossible to fly without all the computers.
Shame it is replaced. Look at that pic, it looks like Death.
Atleast it is replaced by a good plane, unlike the F-14.
 
There isn't a fighter plane made today that can be flown without computers, not even the F-16.
 
"Flies very well" is at best a euphemism for "doesn't try and kill you."

Later flight control systems allowed the F-117 to fly reasonably well, but it has a fairly narrow (much more than other aircraft such as the F-16 or F-22) envelope of airspeed and AOA that it flies within.

The earliest versions tended to "hunt" on a continuous basis and in gusty conditions landings were an "experience," according to the pilots I've chatted with.

Steve
 
Blind_Io said:
There isn't a fighter plane made today that can be flown without computers, not even the F-16.
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Point of interest: unless it is in supersonic flight.

Wikipedia said:
The YF-16 was the world's first aircraft to be slightly aerodynamically unstable by design. This feature is officially called "relaxed static stability." When supersonic, the aircraft exhibits positive static stability due to aerodynamic forces shifting aft between subsonic and supersonic flight. At subsonic speeds, however, the fighter is constantly on the verge of going out of control.
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Still, the F117 served the US well. I guess it's on to newer and hopefully better aircraft to fill in its role.

I wonder how the F22 compares with the F117 in stealth. If it is equal or better than it, then its clearly the superior choice.
 
FATMOUSE said:
I wonder how the F22 compares with the F117 in stealth. If it is equal or better than it, then its clearly the superior choice.
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We might not know for a while, as its radar cross-section is still classified.

Wikipedia did offer this, though:

"The F-22 apparently relies less on maintenance-intensive radar absorbent material and coatings than previous stealth designs like the F-117. These materials caused deployment problems due to their susceptibility to adverse weather conditions. Unlike the B-2, which requires climate-controlled hangars, the F-22 can undergo repairs on the flight line or in a normal hangar. Furthermore, the F-22 has a warning system (called "Signature Assessment System" or "SAS") which presents warning indicators when routine wear-and-tear have degraded the aircraft's radar signature to the point of requiring more substantial repairs."
 
Actually, that would be the F-14 Tomcat.
 
Hey it's news from my neck of the woods! It's a shame it's sad news. The F-117 was, and still is, very revolutionary and it's sad to see it go. At least it can go into retirement knowing it served its country very well over its short career.
 
Blind_Io said:
Actually, that would be the F-14 Tomcat.
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Nah, that would be more like the Callaway Sledgehammer, wouldn't it?

P.S. it's also one of my favorite planes ever.
 
The F14 and F117 have probably been the most celebrated military aircraft of all time, come to think of it.

hiiiiiiiighwaaaaaay toooo the daaaanger zooooooooone
 
The P-51 Mustang from the WWII era.
The F-86 Saber from Korea
F-4 Phantom from Vietnam
F-14 Tomcat
B-52 Stratofortress (AKA: The BUFF)
F-15 Eagle
Mirage 2000 (and variants)
SR-71
Concorde

There are others that are excellent planes, but these are my most celebrated for technical innovation, service life and The X-Factor (coolness). Coolness alone won't get a plane on the list.
 
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