The story of the F-117 begins in 1964, when Soviet mathematician Pyotr Ufimtsev published the paper, Method of Edge Waves in the Physical Theory of Diffraction. It demonstrated that the radar return from an object depended more on its shape than size. Given the technology at the time, Ufimtsev’s insight was dismissed as impractical in Russia. But by the 1970s, given friendly aircraft losses to SAMs (surface-to-air missiles) in Vietnam and the Middle East, engineers at Lockheed’s “Skunk Works”—famous for designing cutting edge military planes like the P-38 Lighting, U-2 spy plane, and F-104 Starfighter—began taking the idea seriously.

• READ MORE: Reaching Uncharted Corners of the Globe in a Fokker F.VII

One key to minimizing radar return was to replace conventional streamlined, rounded surfaces with flat, angled surfaces designed to scatter radar waves in different directions. The wings would be swept back at a steep angle, like an arrowhead, and the vertical stabilizer (tail fin) replaced by an angled V-tail, all to reduce its radar profile.

The two turbofan jet engines were placed above the wings to shield their heat signature from the ground. The flat, reflective surfaces of the turbofan itself were shielded by an intake grill (to the right).

The engines have special exhaust ports in the rear to shield and minimize the heat released. The F-117 has no afterburners to give it extra thrust, as this would defeat the purpose of nondetection.

Instead of slinging weapons and bombs outside the fuselage, they are stored in an interior bay, safe from radar detection. Even opening the bay doors dramatically increases the F-117’s radar profile, so it must only be done for a few seconds over a target. Additionally, the exterior surfaces of the F-117 are all covered in a special coating, designed to absorb and deflect radar waves. The fork-like prongs jutting from the front of the F-117 are sensors to detect airspeed, angle of attack, and other instrument readings. The F-117 has no radar, which would immediately give away its presence. The glass panel in front of the cockpit is an infrared “eye” that enables the pilot to see in the dark and guide bombs to their target.

The windows of the F-117’s cockpit are ingrained with gold, which allows radar waves in but not out. Examples of the F-117’s cockpit are now on display in museums, and the layout is fairly similar to other single-pilot combat airplanes.

• READ MORE: Exploring the Checkered History of the Lockheed F-104 Starfighter

Initially a “black project” funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), starting in 1975, Lockheed cobbled together two prototypes under the code name “Hopeless Diamond,” which first flew in 1977. Although both prototypes crashed, the project was a sufficient enough success to proceed with a production model, which took its first flight from Area 51 in 1981. The first airplanes were delivered to the U.S. Air Force in 1982.

The radar-minimizing design features of the F-117 make it quite unstable to fly. In fact, it can really only be flown with computer assistance, using a fly-by-wire system derived from the F-16. Because of its difficult aerodynamics, the F-117 quickly gained the nickname “Frisbee” or “Wobblin’ Goblin.”

The shielding of its jet engines, and lack of afterburners, also means that the F-117 is subsonic (it cannot break the speed of sound), making it much slower than most conventional fighters. In fact, despite its designation, the F-117 is not a fighter meant to intercept and dogfight with enemy airplanes. It has no guns, and though in theory it could carry air-to-air missiles, its lack of radar would render them fairly useless.

• READ MORE: The Story of the Schneider Trophy and the Supermarine S.5

The “Stealth Fighter” is actually an attack aircraft or light bomber, intended to be used in covert missions or evade air defenses, mainly under the cover of night. Some say that the “fighter” designation was used to attract pilots to the program who would normally have preferred flying fighters over bombers.

After testing at Homey, the F-117 was assigned to a special secret unit at Tonopah Test Range, also in Nevada. A total of 64 combat-ready airplanes were eventually built. Throughout the 1980s, however, the F-117 was kept completely secret. While rumors and sightings of it abounded, the U.S. government refused to confirm that any such aircraft existed. The first acknowledged use of the F-117 in combat was during the U.S. invasion of Panama to topple dictator Manuel Noriega in 1989.

Before I elaborate on its combat history, I need to land this airplane. The F-117 doesn’t have any flaps or air brakes to slow it down. I pull the throttle back to nearly idle just to descend. The approach speed of the F-117 is really fast—around 250 knots—and it touches down at 180 knots. So on landing I pull a handle next to the landing gear to deploy a parachute, to slow me down in time.

Now let’s talk about the known combat record of the F-117. It’s 3 a.m.  on January 17, 1991. Just over a day since the coalition deadline for Saddam Hussein to withdraw his Iranian forces from Kuwait has expired. An F-117 flies over the desert just south of Baghdad.

F-117s are leading the first strike of the coalition air campaign in the first Gulf War, aimed at taking out key command and control installations in the Iraqi capital. With a radar reflection the size of a golf ball, the F-117 glides silent and unseen over the bends of the Tigris River toward its target. Meanwhile, Iraqi anti-aircraft guns fire blindly into the night sky—a scene I remember watching unfold live on TV as I sat in my college dorm room. Combat losses for the F-117 that first night were projected at 5 percent. In fact, every single one of them came back from their missions safely.

By the end of the first Gulf War, the F-117 had flown 1,300 sorties, hitting an estimated 1,600 high-value targets, with the loss of a single aircraft. Though some of its performance may have been exaggerated—initial estimates of 80 percent target accuracy were scaled back to 40-60 percent—the F-117 became a leading symbol of the U.S. technological edge that helped establish it as the world’s sole superpower going into the 1990s.

• READ MORE: Recreating the Final Flight of the Red Baron

Fast-forward to the evening of March 27, 1999. At Aviano Air Base in northern Italy, an F-117 prepares for another night of bombing Yugoslavia, as part of NATO’s intervention to compel Serbian forces to withdraw from Kosovo. The aircraft, call sign “Vega 31,” is flown by Lieutenant Colonel Darrell Patrick “Dale” Zelko, a Desert Storm veteran. His target is a command-and-control center in downtown Belgrade, the Serbian capital. Along with several other F-117s on similar missions, he will fly east across Slovenia and Hungary before refueling midair and turning south to enter Yugoslav airspace.

I’ve heard the story two ways. The first has Zelko approaching Belgrade from the northwest and being picked up by Serbian radar as he opened his bomb bay doors—presumably before he could hit his assigned target. The second version, which the pilot himself tells, has him skirting Romanian airspace and coming toward Belgrade from the east. He dropped his bombs on target then continued west to head back home. (From what I can gather, Zelko was actually quite a bit higher than I’m portraying here, and there was a cloud layer about 2,000 feet above the ground.)

Just south of the two in Ruma in the countryside west of Belgrade, a mobile S-125 Neva SAM unit detected the F-117, despite its stealth profile, and locked on. Two SAMs were fired. The first missed the cockpit by inches, and the proximity fuse somehow failed to trigger. The second hit one wing and sent the F-117 tumbling out of control. After an initial struggle, the pilot ejected, was able to evade Serbian ground forces, and was rescued by U.S. helicopters. Years later, Zelko met the man who commanded the SAM unit that shot him down, and the two became friends.

Interestingly, the U.S. did not take any steps to destroy the wreckage of the downed F-117. The official reason was that the technology was already out of date, and there was no rationale to fear it falling into enemy hands. While the F-117 Nighthawk was used in 2001 in Afghanistan, and again in 2003 over Iraq, it became increasingly clear that it was nearing the end of its useful days, soon to be replaced by newer aircraft like the F-22 and F-35 that incorporate further advances in stealth technology. In 2006, the U.S. Air Force announced that it was retiring the F-117 and began putting the fleet into storage. A few went to museums, and others began being scrapped.

However, in recent years, there have been a number of sightings of F-117s flying near Edwards Air Base near California’s Death Valley. Some were reportedly painted grayish white, earning them the nickname “ghosts.” It is widely suspected that these F-117s are taking part in exercises designed to train pilots to detect and intercept enemy stealth aircraft. For fans of the iconic “Stealth Fighter,” it’s gratifying to know that some of them still appear to be flying.

In its entire operational life, there was only one known F-117 shot down. Its time may have passed, but that’s a remarkable record.

If you’d like to see a version of this story with more historical photos and screenshots, you can check out my original post here. This story was told utilizing Aerial Simulations’ F-117 Nighthawk add-on to Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020, along with liveries and scenery downloaded for free from the flightsim.to community.

The post Reenacting Bombing Missions in an F-117 Nighthawk appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

The one-of-a-kind X-59 Quiet SuperSonic Technology (QueSST) aircraft is part of NASA’s Low Boom Flight Demonstration project aimed at collecting data to help shape regulations for possible future commercial supersonic flight over land 50 years after it was banned by the FAA due to the noise of the sonic boom.

It’s expected to fly 1.4 times the speed of sound, or around 925 mph, according to NASA.

• READ MORE: NASA Ready to Roll Out Experimental X-59

“This is the big reveal,” said Catherine Bahm, the manager of NASA’s Low Boom Flight Demonstrator project who is overseeing the development and build of the X-59. “The rollout is a huge milestone toward achieving the overarching goal of the Quesst mission to quiet the sonic boom.”

Bob Pearce, associate administrator of NASA Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate, recalled one of America’s test flight heroes during the ceremony.

“This journey actually began in 1947, when the era of supersonic flight started right here in the California high desert with test pilot Chuck Yeager in the X-1,” said Pearce. “It soon became apparent that the sonic boom’s sharp thunderous sound heard when the airplane flies overhead at supersonic speed was going to be a problem.”

Engineering Sound Through Shape

The X-59 is designed to lessen the perceived sound of a sonic boom to that of a gentle thump, and it does that through a specialized aircraft shape.

“What’s most obvious right away is the long, distinct nose which comprises almost a third of that 99.7-foot length,” said NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy. “This design is really critical in dispersing shockwaves” and preventing the shocks from merging together and creating the boom.

The cockpit sits almost halfway down the length of the aircraft, and there’s no forward-facing window, which would have increased noise, Melroy said.

“It’s a huge challenge—limited visibility in the cockpit,” Melroy said. “The team developed the external vision system, which is really a marvel of high-resolution cameras feeding an ultra-high-resolution monitor. Beyond its immediate applications in the X-59, the external vision system has the potential to influence future aircraft designs, where the absence of that forward-facing window may prove advantageous for engineering reasons. It’s creating capabilities that we haven’

NASA will collect data on how communities perceive the sound of the X-59 flights, which will then be used to inform the agency’s recommendations for an acceptable noise-level standard for commercial supersonic flights and possibly repeal the current ban of supersonic flight over land.

• READ MORE: NASA X-59 Cleared for Final Assembly

“The unveiling of NASA’s X-59 supersonic aircraft is a major milestone in aviation history that has the potential to transform our industry,” said Dave Schreck, vice president and general manager of military avionics and helicopters at Collins Aerospace, which provided the primary avionics system on the aircraft.

The X-59 is expected to take its first flight later in 2024.

“The Quesst team will conduct several of the aircraft’s flight tests at Skunk Works before transferring it to NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards [Air Force Base], California, which will serve as its base of operations,” NASA said.

Watch: Time-Lapse Video of the X-59

This time-lapse video shows the manufacturing of the X-59 aircraft from May 2019 to June 2021 when the merger of its main sections—the wing, tail assembly, and fuselage—was completed.

The post NASA Reveals the X-59—Its Antidote to the Sonic Boom appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

The one-of-a-kind X-59 Quiet SuperSonic Technology (QueSST) experimental aircraft is part of NASA’s Low Boom Flight Demonstration project aimed at collecting data to help shape regulations for possible future commercial supersonic flight over land. 

The official unveiling ceremony is set for Friday, January 12, at 1 p.m. PST, Lockheed Martin said Friday. The event will be streamed on NASA+, the space agency’s website, as well as on social media.

• READ MORE: NASA’s Supersonic X-59 Clears Critical Ground Tests

The X-59’s first flight, originally slated to take place last year, was moved to 2024 in October. 

“As part of the demands of developing this unique aircraft, the QueSST team is working through several technical challenges identified over the course of 2023, when the X-59 had been scheduled to make its first flight,” NASA said in a statement at the time. “Extra time is needed to fully integrate systems into the aircraft and ensure they work together as expected. The team is also resolving intermittent issues with some of the safety-redundant computers that control the aircraft’s systems.”

In November, NASA revealed the aircraft had progressed to the paint barn at Skunk Works and that its primarily white paint scheme would include red wing accents and a NASA “sonic blue” underside.

“The paint doesn’t just add cosmetic value,” said NASA, adding that it protects the aircraft from moisture and corrosion, as well as provides key markings needed for ground and flight operations.

Said Cathy Bahm, NASA’s lowe boom flight project manager: “The year ahead will be a big one for the X-59, and it will be thrilling for the outside of the aircraft to finally match the spectacular mission ahead.” 

‘Gentle Thump’

The X-59 is designed to lessen the perceived sound of a sonic boom “to that of a gentle thump, similar to a car door shutting in the distance,” according to Lockheed Martin. 

NASA will collect data on how communities perceive the sound of the X-59 flights, which will then be used to inform its recommendations for an acceptable noise-level standard for commercial supersonic flights and possibly repeal the current ban of supersonic flight over land.

While the aircraft will showcase new technology, it will also utilize components from existing aircraft, according to NASA. Its life-support system, for example, comes from an F-15 Eagle, and its landing gear from an F-16 Fighting Falcon.

New Year, New Flight Horizon.@NASA and Skunk Works® will reveal the X-59 quiet supersonic flight demonstrator on January 12. Get ready for the first look at the future of supersonic flight. pic.twitter.com/ponIgN33dE

— Lockheed Martin (@LockheedMartin) January 1, 2024

The post NASA Ready to Roll Out Experimental X-59 appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

This line is uttered in Top Gun Maverick when Capt. Pete “Maverick” Mitchell achieves Mach 10 in the Darkstar—a  reusable hypersonic, piloted aircraft that is ostensibly a creation of Lockheed Martin Skunk Works—note the Lockheed Martin logo of the Skunk on the tail of the aircraft in the movie.  

I felt a surge of pride when I saw the familiar logo—my father worked at Lockheed Martin Advanced Development Projects—known as Skunk Works—for more than 30 years. Dad never told us what he did. He couldn’t. He would go on work trips to “someplace in the desert.” Us kids were taught to say, “Daddy builds rockets,” when someone asked what our father did for work. 

Skunk Works Goes Hollywood

Skunk Works—which got its name because the plant produced a strong unpleasant odor, especially on warm days—by definition is a place of secrecy. 

The skunk is the mascot of “Skunk Works,” a term for Lockheed Martin Advanced Development that goes back to 1943, when engineer Clarence L. “Kelly” Johnson led a team in Southern California tasked with designing a jet for the military. Because manufacturing space was impossible to find because of the war, the team worked out of a rented circus tent set up next to a plastics manufacturing plant.

• READ MORE: Pilots Will Love Top Gun: Maverick—It’s a Lot More Real

According to a spokesperson from Lockheed Martin,  Paramount Pictures approached the aerospace company in 2017 with a request for technical expertise in the production of Top Gun: Maverick.  

“Lockheed Martin Skunk Works designed and produced a conceptual reusable, piloted hypersonic aircraft, referred to as Darkstar in the film.” she said. 

The fictional Darkstar’s lines evoke two other Lockheed Martin aircraft: the SR-71 Blackbird—SR stands for Strategic Reconnaissance—the now retired, super fast design; and the Lockheed Martin F-35, also known as “the world’s most advanced fighter jet.” 

• LISTEN: FLYING’s Top Gun: Maverick Music Playlist

FLYING was told not to confuse Darkstar with the SR-72, a concept referred to as the “Son of Blackbird,”which is a construct ostensibly suggested by the media in 2013, but never confirmed as a concept by Skunk Works.  

Darkstar is movie fiction, the spokesperson explained, saying, “Darkstar is a hyper-realistic aircraft concept designed specifically for Top Gun: Maverick. Hypersonic technology is progressing and the work being done across Lockheed Martin today is laying the foundation for a Reusable Hypersonic Vehicle, such as Darkstar, to one day be possible.”

• REVIEW: How Does Top Gun: Maverick Stack Up?

The fictional aircraft was five years in the making. The development team took it seriously, keeping in mind “the shaping, materials, and components that must withstand heat and environmental stressors caused by high-speed flight.” 

In addition, Lockheed Martin “helped design realistic flight gear, shared artifacts for the set, and arranged site tours and demonstrations to support the effort. The team provided insights to drive realism into the storyline, serving as consultants throughout filming,” the company’s spokesperson said.

Proud of Their Part in the Movie

Lockheed Martin has a webpage dedicated to information about Top Gun Maverick. There you will find more information about the project and a few of the Lockheed Martin designers who worked on it, identified only by their first names: Jim, Jason, Lucio, and Becky.

Jim is credited with the conceptual design. Jason and Lucio handled the task of turning the conceptual designs into a realistic aircraft model with a working cockpit. Becky, a mechanical engineer, worked with the movie team to build the Darkstar vehicle, including the functional cockpit. Throughout the filming process, her job was to keep the model structurally sound.

Jeremy Hindle, the movie’s production designer from Paramount, described Darkstar’s design as “angry, mean, and insanely fast.” 

In the movie, the Darkstar mission is never openly discussed. However, we are told that the government wants to pull the funding on the project because it hasn’t yet reached Mach 10. It is intimated that the test flight protocols—which set specific targets to reach and to go no farther than Mach 10—are short of Mach 9.

Capt. Pete “Maverick” Mitchell bends the rules a bit to get “one last test flight.” Test flights involve a protocol where a target is set and achieved, but do not involve pushing the envelope. Maverick is cautioned not to make the flight—Mach 9 is 6,905.42 mph.

The closest a piloted aircraft has come to that speed in reality is the SR-71 Blackbird, which reached Mach 3.3 or 2,193 mph.

There is a dramatic sequence as Maverick dons his high-altitude flight suit and helmet as he prepares for the before-sunrise launch. The tension mounts as the aircraft climbs into the dawn sky, and the cockpit’s Mach number readout heads toward the targeted value. 

Is it possible to fly an aircraft as fast as Mach 9?

“Operating in the hypersonic flight realm is difficult,” the Lockheed Martin spokesperson said. “The film depicts both a notional aircraft and a notional flight test scenario. The pathfinding work being done today is vitally important. The notional scenario in the film does not represent today’s work.”

• READ MORE: U.S. Navy, Air Force Banking On Top Gun: Maverick Recruitment Boost

This wasn’t the first time Locheed Martin created a Darkstar. In the 1990s Lockheed Martin created the RQ-3 Darkstar, a high altitude, unmanned aerial vehicle designed for endurance, not for speed. The UAV did its first flight in March 1996. The project was terminated in 1999 because the aircraft did not meet expectations. 

Three remaining Darkstar UAVs are in museums—one is at the Air Force Museum in Dayton, Ohio, one is at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C., and the third is at the Museum of Flight in Seattle, Washington.

Perhaps…someday. Just as the flying scenes in the original Top Gun inspired generations to become military aviators, this movie will also inspire future generations of engineers.

The post That Darkstar in <i>Top Gun: Maverick</i>—Was it Real? appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

The X-59 Quiet SuperSonic Technology (QueSST) experimental aircraft is part of NASA’s Low Boom Flight Demonstration project aimed at collecting data to help shape regulations for possible future commercial supersonic flight over land.

Earlier this week, NASA announced that the X-59 had arrived back at the Skunk Works facility after months of critical ground tests at Lockheed Martin’s facility in Fort Worth, Texas.

California dreamin’… of flight at the speed of sound without a loud sonic boom!

The X-59 is back at @LockheedMartin’s Skunk Works, where final assembly, engine install & system checkouts will take place! Stay updated as we move closer to first flight: https://t.co/SImKhyvdcL pic.twitter.com/04YQutH7PZ

— NASA Ames (@NASAAmes) April 20, 2022

“California dreamin’…of flight at the speed of sound without a loud sonic boom!” NASA said Wednesday on social media. “The X-59 is back at @LockheedMartin’s Skunk Works, where final assembly, engine install & system checkouts will take place!” 

Late last year, NASA announced the X-59 airframe had been removed from the jig system that provided external scaffolding support and that the aircraft was being readied for next steps, which included a first “power on” of the aircraft’s internal systems. 

The aircraft, which has been under construction since 2018, was then trucked to Lockheed Martin’s facility in Texas for structural tests. There, it underwent ground testing to ensure it could hold up to flight loads and stresses, as well as going through fuel system calibration and testing.

“With its return to California, the X-59 will undergo further ground tests as it approaches full completion of its development and continues to make progress on its way to first flight,” NASA said Monday.

Demonstration flights are slated to begin in 2024, according to NASA.

In addition to collecting data, the X-59 flights will also be gauging the public’s reaction to supersonic “thumps.” 

The aircraft’s distinctive nose, which comprises nearly a third of the aircraft’s total length, is designed to shape shock waves during flight and reduces loud sonic booms as it flies at supersonic speeds of about 660 mph (574 knots) at sea level.

“The X-59 is designed to fly faster than the speed of sound without producing the typically loud sonic booms that occur when an aircraft flies at supersonic speeds,” NASA said. “The advanced X-plane will instead reduce that sound to a quiet sonic ‘thump,’ which will be demonstrated in flights over communities around the U.S. starting in 2024.”

The post NASA’s Supersonic X-59 Clears Critical Ground Tests appeared first on FLYING Magazine.