Aviation Week and Space Technology
In Partnership With
Boeing
SEPTEMBER 25, 1989
P. 20
Air Force F-117A is shown in flight in this recently released artist’s rendering of the stealth attack aircraft. Lockheed had delivered 52 F-117AS as of the end of last year from an order for 59 aircraft. The F-117A is believed to be equipped with downward- and forward-looking infrared.
APRIL 22, 1991
P. 51, 53
F-117AS operated from enclosed hangars at Khamis Mushait air base. The aircraft’s 185190 kt. takeoff speeds are accommodated by the base’s two 12,000-ft. runways.
JUNE 10, 1991
P. 20, 21
Wind tunnel tests were conducted on this model of a Tactical High-Altitude Penetrator (THAP) in 1976. The concept evolved into the U.S. Air Force TR-3A stealth reconnaissance aircraft that is believed to operate with Lockheed F-117A fighters.
APRIL 22, 1991
P. 30
DARPA and the Air Force began a stealth demonstration program in November, 1975, and the Have Blue testbed first flew in December, 1977. The two 12,000-lb. aircraft had 22-ft. wingspans and were 38 ft. long. F-117A full-scale development started the following November.
MAY 14, 1990
P. 106 (4 Pages)
JUNE 17, 1991
P. 47
U. S. Air Force/Lockheed F-117A nears touchdown on Le Bourget Airport’s Runway 03 on June 11 for the Paris air show. The runway was equipped with an arresting cable for the fighter’s arrival.
MAY 14, 1990
P. 106 (4 Pages)
FEBRUARY 8, 1993
P. 43, 45
Lockheed's F-l 17A No. 780 was the first preproduction test aircraft. Note symmetrical pitot tube configuration. Pilots' names are inscribed on the canopy rail.
APRIL 9, 1990
P. 19, 20
Air Force/Lockheed F-117A stealth attack aircraft is made up almost entirely of flat panels angled so that radar energy will be deflected up or
MAY 14, 1990
P. 106 (4 Pages)
DECEMBER 4, 1989
P. 42
Red area on F-117A belly is an arresting hook, though the aircraft normally uses a drag chute on landings. Exhaust from the aircraft’s twin engines exits from wide slots at the fuselage end.
MAY 14, 1990
P. 106 (4 Pages)
MAY 14, 1990
P. 106 (4 Pages)
MAY 14, 1990
P. 106 (4 Pages)
DECEMBER 4, 1989
P. 42
Patches of different and missing radar-absorbent materials are visible on the F-117A’s aft belly. Dark opening by the nose wheel well is believed to be a retractable infrared vision device.
JUNE 24, 1991
P. 20 (4 Pages)
F-117A’s novel exhaust system blows hot, fastmoving air through the airframe itself. Some proposed improvements would make it easier to maintain the exhaust area.
June 8, 1992
P. 64
MAY 1, 1989
P. 24 (3 Pages)
An Air Force C-5 transport is parked next to a Lockheed Skunk Works facility at Burbank Airport in California, presumably to pick up F-117A aircraft, parts and equipment for delivery to the Tonopah Test Range in Nevada. The C-5, shown earlier in the F-117 program in this time exposure photograph, has a curtain raised inside the lighted cargo area to shield activities from view.
MAY 14, 1990
P. 106 (4 Pages)
MAY 14, 1990
P. 106 (4 Pages)