Warbird Information Exchange

After 25 years of service, the AF has announced they are retiring the F117 Nighthawk, but have not specified a date. The press release indicates its successor is the F22 Raptor.

Full press release here:

http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123030185

A question: Not for a minute to take anything away from any of its capabilities, its ground-breaking technologies, nor its combat mission history...however: The AF still refers to the F117 as a "fighter". (Yes, I know that F = fighter in USAF language.)

Correct me if I am wrong, its only mission (or primary mission) is either attack or bomber, yes?? Has any F117 ever had an air-to-air engagement with another fighter??

I always felt that the "F" designation was a budget fiction to get taxpayer funding for two very expensive "stealth" a/c development programs: F117 & B2.

Personally, I like the way they look in-flight. It does not look that good on the ground. And they have been effective in combat.

I've always wondered about that whole "F" designation thing too

They called it a fighter should they could get someone to fly it. Sort of
harsh but true.

_________________
Don't touch my junk!!

The designation F-117 was used to throw off those folks who follow budget allocations to find out what the next secret project is. 117 was used and was a throwback to the old system. ie: F-4 would have been the F-110 for the A.F. under the old designation.

Interesting note, all of the stab protractors that I have seen, that are used to set up the stab movement limits are marked F4H-1.

Don't forget that she could carry air-to-air missle instead of bombs if they wanted her to.

The "F" designation was decided on as the permanent designation after the program went "white" because of limitations on bombers in the START and SALT agreements.

F-117 flying again!?

Read text to this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TvyaG7EIC18

Is this true or not

_________________
http://www.pozefilm.de

Warbird Videos:
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=34289

Wow, very interesting! It doesn't surprise me if they are still flying them as all the aircraft are "stored" at Tonopah Test Range airfield - the original place where the 117 was based when it was a black program. What I didn't know is that the Chinese have apparently developed a mock up of the 117 and are developing new missile seeker heads to use against it. So, the "unretired" 117's could possibly be used for OT&E against some kind of countermeasures with the new seeker heads.

I believe that video, btw. The guy that shot that has a long history of video taping unusual stuff at and around Nellis/Groom Lake for many years. I believe his credibility is good.

BTW, there is much anecdotal evidence that the SR-71 continued to fly long after it's retirement, so there is precedence for such a move on the part of the Air Force. A friend of mine, who was a trained military pilot, swore on his life, that he saw first-hand, an SR-71 flying after it's "official" retirement.

those kids are great. i watch all their red flag recovery vids. gee, maybe the 49th is getting -117s again instead of the vipers that are supposed to replace their raptors ...

_________________
-recovering Viper crew chief
-AWACS driver/soon-to-be A-26 driver
-displaced Philadelphian

The thing about the SR-71 is that since there were so few of the series (including the A-12/Oxcart and the YF-12) and EVERY survivor has been saved, that the individual aircraft service histories are extremely well-documented.

That's not to preclude the possibility that there were some off-books Blackbirds. However, more likely is the possibility that your friend saw one of the several SR-71s that continued flying for NASA after both the early and late 1990s retirements from USAF service, with a true "final flight" occurring in late 1999.

I said it once and say it again, the Blackbird flew long after retirement.

_________________
Chris Henry
EAA Aviation Museum Manager

There's a reason the airplanes were sent to "storage" instead of cap't crunch.

_________________

He was very specific that they were not NASA birds. He implied that they were "off-book" Blackbirds, or ones that nobody knew about.

Is it possible, that by taking them from Holloman and sending them to "storage" far from prying eyes was a way to put the F117 back into the black ? The world thinks they are retired so the bad guys don't look for them ?

_________________
"You cannot invade the mainland United States. There would be a rifle behind each blade of grass..."
Admiral Isoruku Yamamoto

I wouldn't think so. Keeping an aircraft "in the black" is very expensive and the very reason it was declassified back in '88 and eventually moved to Holloman from Tonopah. Tonopah has a few other highly classified "black" aircraft operating out of it, and it wouldn't make sense to take up space and resources trying to hide an old, obsolete, completely white aircraft.

I think the likely scenario is that the Air Force honestly did plan to retire the 117, but when this Chinese 117 popped up on the radar, they probably brought 1 or 2 airframes out of retirement to use for operational testing and evaluation for the possible Chinese threat. I seriously doubt they have more than a couple flying, IMO.

All speculation, of course.