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| Bird of Prey | |
|---|---|
 | |
| General information | |
| Type | Experimental stealth testbed |
| Manufacturer | McDonnell Douglas /Boeing |
| Status | On display |
| Number built | 1 |
| History | |
| First flight | September 11, 1996 |
| Retired | April 1999 |
| Preserved at | National Museum of the United States Air Force |
TheBoeing Bird of Prey is an Americanblack project aircraft, intended to demonstratestealth technology. It was developed byMcDonnell Douglas andBoeing in the 1990s.[1] The company provided $67 million of funding for the project.[1] It developed technology and materials which would later be used on Boeing'sX-45unmanned combat air vehicle.[citation needed]
Development of the Bird of Prey began in 1992 byMcDonnell Douglas'sPhantom Works division for special projects, atArea 51. The aircraft's name alludes to theKlingonBird-of-Prey, a fictional class of starships in the science fiction franchiseStar Trek.[2]Phantom Works became part ofBoeing Integrated Defense Systems after the Boeing–McDonnell Douglas merger in 1997.
The first flight was in 1996, and 39 more flights were performed through the program's conclusion in 1999.[1] The Bird of Prey was designed to prevent shadows and is believed to have been used to testactive camouflage, which would involve its surfaces changing color or luminosity to match the surroundings.[3]
Because it was a demonstration aircraft, the Bird of Prey used acommercial off-the-shelfturbofan engine and manualhydraulic controls rather thanfly-by-wire. This shortened the development time and greatly reduced its cost. (A production aircraft would havecomputerized controls.)
The shape is aerodynamically stable enough to be flown without computer correction. Its aerodynamic stability is in part due to lift provided by thechines, as used in other aircraft including theSR-71 Blackbird. This provided lift for the nose in flight. This configuration, which can be stable without a horizontal tailplane and a conventional vertical rudder, is now a standard in later stealthunmanned aerial vehicles such as theX-45 andX-47, tailless aircraft which usedrag rudders (asymmetrically used wingtip airbrakes) for yaw control.
The aircraft, which had given the designation "YF-118G" as a cover,[4] was made public on October 18, 2002.[1]
The Bird of Prey was put on display at theNational Museum of the United States Air Force atWright-Patterson Air Force Base nearDayton, Ohio, on July 16, 2003. It is now on display at the museum's Modern Flight Gallery above theirF-22 Raptor.
Data from Jane's All The World's Aircraft 2003–2004[5]
General characteristics
Performance
Related development
Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era
