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F-117A
Frequently Asked Questions

Where can I see the F-117A?

There are three F-117A's on permanent display inthe USA. Please note: the displays at Nellis AFB and Skunkworks are not open to the public. Although one can see them visiually, they are behind fences and require special permision to visit up close. However, at the USAF Museum one can walk right up to the F-117A displayed.

The wreckage of F-117A #82-806 is now on display in Belgrade, Yugoslavia.

The Air Combat Command is in charge of static and aerial F-117A demonstrations across the USA. The ACC aircraft are those from the operational units at Holloman AFB, New Mexico. The ACC schedule of F-117A airshow and aerial appearances:

Although the 410th FLTS "Baja Scorpions" assigned to Plant 42, Palmdale Calif. have made Southern California appearences, there is no schedule for their rare appearences.

Is the F-117A the "Stealth Bomber"?

Although the F-117A can be thought as an "attackjet" or a"stealth bomber", it is notTHE Stealth Bomber. The Lockheed F-117A Nighthawk is the "StealthFighter" and costs about 45 million per aircraft.The Northrop B-2 Spirit is the "Stealth Bomber" that costs approximately 2billion dollars each. The B-2 is basically a flying wing design where theF-117A is a lifting body/high-swept delta wing design.

Is the F-117A invisible to radar?

No aircraft is entirely invisible to radar. Thegoal is to makedetection and/or radar lock as hard as possible. Therefore, the detectionrange is small enough that there is not enough reaction time to deploycountermeasures that are effective. In addition, you add decoys, radarseeking missiles, good mission planning, and the fog of war, and theF-117A does become practically invisible to ground based radar.However, the battlefield is constantly changing. Both the enemy andthe USAF are constantly trying to improve their assets.

Stealth isnot limited to radar only. The F-117A also was designed to minimizeInfrared Heat Signature, Optical Visibility, and also has a "low acousticsignature".

Why the designation F-117A?

This has been atopic of much debate. However, the most plausible theory that is believedby the author is that the F-117A really did get its number from the numbering system used for Soviet and other "black" aircraft at Groom.Numbers such as YF-110, YF-113, YF-114, etc.,...up through (and possiblybeyond) YF-117A were used by the test pilots as radiocallsigns. After a while, these radio call signs came to be sort ofunofficial designations for these aircraft. The number 117became so closely associated withthe stealth fighter that when Lockheed printed up the first Dash One PilotManual, it had "F-117A" on the cover. Since the Air Force didn't want topay millions of dollars to re-do all the manuals, the aircraft became theF-117A officially.(As a note: A similar mistake was madewhen LBJ announced the existence of the "Blackbird". It was supposedto have been designated RS-71, but LBJ announced it as SR-71 and no onehad the guts to tell LBJ that he had goofed. The designation stuck.)

Whereas the "Y"prefix is supposed to denote service testaircraft, it was not used in that manner for the classified aircraftdesignations. It was simply a way to identify an aircraft that could notbe named in the pilot's Form 5. In the records of the 410th FLTS, the FSDaircraft are still carried asYF-117A. In this case the "Y" does not denote a "prototype" in thetraditional sense, but serves to identify the FSD airframes.

Why the name "Nighthawk" instead of "Wobbly Goblin"?

There have beenmany names for the F-117A. Let me tackle the "WobblyGoblin" one first. According to every F-117A pilot I've talked to, theF-117A flies like anyfighter should. As one pilot said "Nobody actually associated with theprogram while I was in it EVER called it the "Wobblin' Goblin," althoughI've seen that in print a lot. It didn't wobble--was a rock-solidplatform (watch the combat videotape!)." The nickname of "Wobbly Goblin" isfictitious-no one evercalled the F-117A that. Apparently a couple of old F-117A test pilotswere at a test pilot convention. One of them made the reference that theplane felt like a "Wobbly Goblin" right before some particular computercompensation kicked in during an early flight test. This was heard by one guy, whotold his friend, whoin turn talked to a reporter in New York over the phone. The reporter then wrote it in an article incorrectly saying that pilots routinely use theterm"Wobbly Goblin". (As a note: the article's goal was to degrade thecapabilities and quality of the F-117A.)

One of the earliestnames for the F-117A was Scorpion. Apparently, duringtesting a scorpion found it's way into one of the hangers. (Some sources say onto the program manager's desk.) TheBaja Scorpion (Baja for Southern Groom-the YF-117A's were in the sothern hangers of the base) was adopted and still is themascot of the FSD's and the 410th TFS. The Scorpion symbol is alsoused in conjunction with the Dragon Test Team symbolizing that it hasremained a symbol of all F-117A flight testing.

Because of security concerns in the mid 1980's, there were no patches that showed the F-117A, said "F-117A", or the name "Nighthawk". All patches that related to the F-117A program had obscure symbols and animals on them, and even these had security restrictions placed on them. (Scorpions, Dragons, etc.) One patch was one showing a goat being chased by an A-7 aircraft with the words "Goatsuckers". This patch was presumably worn by A-7 pilots (possibly instructor pilots) who chased the F-117A during training missions. Although not a patch that would mean anything to the general public, a botanist would tell you that the North American Nighthawk is also known as the "Goatsucker".

Yet another nameused (but probably not by those involved with theprogram but outsiders) was "Cockroach" or "Roach". They're black, nasty, they come outat night and they scuttle away when you turn a light on them. Thisterm was also used by some staffers. (Staffers also used the term "stinkbug" because of the way it looks from behind and under.)

One of the earlynames for the F-117A was Black Jet. I've heard that all who heard ithated it some years ago (and the Air Force tried to promote it vs. theNighthawk name), but many current F-117A pilots call it the Black Jet. (It is possible that all the LOCKHEED people that heard it hated it.) The origin possibly comes from the time when camouflaged A-7's were used as a cover story. Due to security concerns, the A-7's were called the "camo jets" and the F-117A were called the "Black jets".

Eventually the nameNighthawk won out. The Air Force thought they'd have a problem with Nighthawk because therewas apparently a night version of the UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter that wascalled Nighthawk.

In Saudi Arabia, thename used was Shabah (or Shaba) as a call sign sinceit was close to the Arabic word for ghost, and that was what the localpeople called it. During Allied Force (1999) the "shabah" callsign was heard for training flights.

Other more colorfulnames have included Cubists' Nightmare, Iraqi RevenueService, The Ugly One, "the sacred airplane" (becausewhen people saw it for the first time they remarked "Oh my God!"), Skunkjet (If only Lockheed would just paint a white tanker-rendezvous stripe!), The Guaranteed Promotion, The Invisible Aim Point and The Truck Stop.

What is the F-19?

The designation F-19was reportedly skipped (F-18 to F-20) in 1982 to givethe Northrop F-20 Tigershark a nice, even, "First of the next generation"number. (As a note-the F-13 designation was deliberately skipped.) At thetime it was assumed that the F-19 was the designation for the stealthfighter. (By this point in time there had been enough leaks to confirmthat a stealth fighter did exist.)

In May 1986, Testorsreleased a model of the F-19 based on RCS books, anda couple of eyewitness reports. In fact, Testors even tested the modelin a RCS chamber in San Diego. (It was found that the inlets were aproblem, which were corrected in the final design.) In eighteen monthsnearly 700,000 models were sold making it an instant success. The onlyproblem was that the Testor F-19 followed the SR-71's smooth curves.

In fact, the stealthfighter's existence was such an open secret thateven the Air Force joked about it. At the 1988 Edwards AFB Air Show, alarge area was roped off. It contained a ladder, wheel chocks, and anofficial display sign labeled "F-19 Flying Frisbee". Of course this was aninvisible plane, so no one could actually see it.

When it was revealedthat the "stealth fighter" was designated F-117A andwas not smooth, some people abandoned the F-19 notion completely andaccepted that the designation had been skipped. (The USAF could honestlysay that the F-19 did not exist whenever asked.) However, some peopletoday claim to have seen the Testor's F-19 flying in the sky. (I guess we will have to wait and see on that.)

Because of thepopularity of the F-19 designation, the USAF Museum Website has areference to theLockheed F-19COSIR-follow the link and you are lead to theF-117A page.

What about the story of dead bats in the F-117A hangers?

The following article was published in AviationWeek and SpaceTechnology, Oct 17, 1991: "An acoustic-guided submunition call the BAT may begoodagainst tanks, but not against an F-117. A reader who workson the stealth fighter in Saudi Arabia says bats (the naturalones) occasionally work their way into F-117 hangars. Onenight, a hungry bat turned right into an F-117rudder and fell stunned to the floor. He flew away groggily,leaving behind a heightened impression of the aircraft'sstealth. "I don't know what the radar return is for the verticaltails of the F-117 but I always thought it had to be morethan an insect's," the reader said. "I guess I waswrong." There may be some "science" in this - the ultrasoundwavelengths used by bats are roughly the same as X-band radar."

In Ben Rich's book "Skunk Works" Col. Barry Horne isquoted assaying: "....at night the bats would come out and feed offinsects. In themornings we'd find bat corpses littered around our airplanes inside openhangers."

When I asked a pilot about this he stated: "Duringthe six months I livedin Saudi Arabia (Feb-Aug 91), I lived in hardened aircraft shelters withthe jets. I walked by them all hours of the day and night, and never oncesaw a bat--let alone a dead bat." "I knew Col. Horne well. He wentto SaudiArabia a few months before I did, so I don't know whether he saw any bats,but if the quote in Ben Rich's book is accurate, then I believe he did. Inever saweven one, though, alive or dead, and (I) passed through the aircraftshelters all hours of the day and night." "What might havereally happened could have been that when the Nighthawks first got to KingKhalid Air Base the Saudis exterminated bats in the hangars--the bestplaces to roost would've been the door tracks. Or possibly poisoned theinsects on which they fed."

I also asked a former F-117A crew chief who wasalso in Saudi Arabiaafter the war. He stated: ""If you think about it the bats are probablylike small birds, which can't deal with the high frequency noise theengines make. It is verycommon for small birds to become disorientated and die from jet blastor the noise at least from dealing with jets. Especially when they are inclosed confined spaces....hangars, overhangs,enclosures, flows, etc. I've seen it happen to the fine feathered friendunfortunately."

Was there a stealth ship?

Yes, there was a boat the Skunk Works developedshortly after the F-117A. It is called the "Sea Shadow" and was builtin 27 months and operated secretly in the late 1980 for $200 milliondollars.

The Sea Shadow was first unveiled on April 9, 1993. Thebarge used for the program was the Hughes MiningBarge (HMB-1), a vessel was originally built fora secret CIA project in the early '70s, and hadbeen in mothballs for years. The CIA project, ithas since come out, was an attempt to recover aSoviet nuclear sub that sank off the coast ofHawaii in 1968. The prodject included two ships, the Gossimir Explorer which was basically a ship capable of deep Sea mining, and the HMB-1 which actually submerged under the Gosimir Explorer. The HMB-1 had a claw to retreive the USSR submarine, which was operated by the drill on the Gossimir Explorer. (The operation was partially successful with half of theill-fated Soviet sub and crew being brought up from the ocean bottom.) TheSea Shadow's stats are: Length: 160 ft. Width: 68 ft. Draft: 14.5 ft.Displacement: 560 tons (full load).

According to the sketchy history released by theNavy, construction of the Sea Shadow took place inside thebarge, apparently between 1983 and '85 at Redwood City Calif. Night testswere conducted in 1985and '86 off the Santa CruzIslands in Southern California., with the barge keeping theship under cover for repairs and replenishment during daylight. The testswere suspended in 1986 and notresumed until spring 1993, when the ship was unveiled. In late 1994the testing concluded in the San Francisco Bay and theSea Shadow and Hughes Mining Barge were moved to San Diegoand were docked at the 32nd Street pier.

In May 1999, the Sea Shadow was reactivated by theNavy for a 5 yearprogram in order to "research future ship engineering concepts and toserve as a host vessel for companies to demonstrate advanced navaltechnologies." The Sea Shadow is currently operation out of SanFrancisco Bay.

Is the F-117A declassified?

The answer tothis question is "Yes" and "No". The existence of theF-117A was declassified on November 8, 1988. However, to this day therearestill many things classified regarding it's capabilities, weapons, radarabsorbent coating, and construction. In March 2000 a 1992 era Dash-1 flight manual was offered for sale on Ebay and shortly reached the price of $500 with a week left before the closing of the auction. The seller had to cancell the auction because the USAF contacted him and stated that the Flight Manual could not be sold due to National Security.

Also still classified is much ofthe history of the F-117A. At airshows USAF guards with M-16 rifles stand inside a 20 foot, two tier perimeter surrounded by signs that say "Restricted Area-DEADLY FORCE AUTHORIZED". The F-117A moved from a status of "black" to a status known as "grey". In the "blackworld", the F-117A was completely a secret. In the "greyworld" the existance of the F-117A is acknowledged, but most specific details are still fuzzy. When asked specific questions about the F-117A at airshows, pilots often either decline to comment or recite a rehersed answer that is either vague or misleading. This is done because (naturally) F-117A personal do not want to accidentally disclose what the USAF considers as sensitive information.

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