F-117 flying again? | Page 7 | FerrariChat

F-117 flying again?

Discussion in 'Aviation Chat' started by alexD, Nov 16, 2010.

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  1. furmano

    furmano Three Time F1 World Champ
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    Looking at some of the videos from various air shows and comparing the "real" F-117's to the static display above, what strikes me is the difference in color and finish.

    The static display above is black but it's kind of shiny. Look at the real F-117's and you will see they are not just black but REALLY black and they absorb most of the light, hardly not reflective at all. Things that make you go, hmmmmm. :p

    Also looking at the airplanes in the video, moving and with relative scale, man do they look...scary! At least to me. Whenever I saw them on display I got an this sense of fear, like I had just walked up to Darth Vader! :)

    -F
     
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  2. Hannibal308

    Hannibal308 F1 Veteran
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    2500 pounds? Isn’t the 27 a 2000 pound guided BLU-109? I can’t recall any 2500 pound bombs, but it’s been a few years so I’m likely wrong.
     
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  3. tazandjan

    tazandjan Three Time F1 World Champ
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    Will- The GBU-27 consists of a 2000 lb BLU-109 penetrator or a 2000 lb Mk-84 GP warhead and PGM kit. The warhead alone weighs 2000 lbs and the guidance kit and extending tail fin kit weigh ~ 500 lbs. I did the OT&E on the GBU-24, the initial Paveway III LLLGB. and dropped several in Desert Storm. The guidance and tail kits are quite large. The fins on the GBU-27 were smaller than on the GBU-24, so the kit might have weighed 450 lbs instead of 500 lbs, but close enough. Most general aviation articles will show a 2000 lb weight for the Mk-84 through the GBU-10 and GBU-24, even though the GBU-24/27 were quite a bit heavier than even the GBU-10.

    We landed after an aborted mission in Desert Storm with 4xGBU-24s still on board and that was 10,000 lbs of ordnance. Here is the GBU-27, which was an F-117A specific weapon. I seem to remember the GBU-24 would not fit in the F-117A weapons bay. The way the F-117A delivered weapons, the GBU-27 was more suitable for the near vertical impacts.


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  4. Wade

    Wade Three Time F1 World Champ
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    We saw the F-117 at Tabuk, S.A. as well.
     
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  5. Wade

    Wade Three Time F1 World Champ
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  6. Hannibal308

    Hannibal308 F1 Veteran
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    Thanks, Taz, for the lesson. As an F-16 Block 40 pilot, dropping 2000 pound GBU-10s and 500 pound -12s (as well as the GPS-Guided -30 and -31 versions, respectively) was 50% of what we did. I was just curious as to the bomb body for the -27 as I be never heard of 2500 pound bomb, but I get where you came from now. That PWIII guidance kit is indeed huge!
     
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  7. tazandjan

    tazandjan Three Time F1 World Champ
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    Will- Affirmative, the GBU-10 bang-bang guidance kit did not weigh much and neither did the JDAM kits. Not much more than the unguided Mk84 fin set. I could easily carry a GBU-10 guidance kit, but the GBU-24 kit often needed a jammer unless the munitions guys were very strong. The munitions loaders often were weight lifters, though. The Germans used to load Mk82s by hand, not something I ever saw at US facilities. Those guys were really in good shape for two of them to lift up a 500 lb bomb.
     
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  8. Formula Uno

    Formula Uno F1 Veteran

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    I’m not a pilot but I find it fascinating;)

    Just wondering...it you return from a mission in your F16 in which you did not drop your bombs, how does your landing differ from a landing in which you did drop your bombs?

    I would think that all that extra weight would totally change things.
     
  9. tazandjan

    tazandjan Three Time F1 World Champ
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    You just land a little faster, as long as the weight plus fuel and aircraft weight does not exceed maximum landing weight. If it does, you jettison the bombs unarmed. The most ordnance weight for an F-111 landing for me was 24 Mk-82s, which combined with 4 BRU's weight, was around 13,000 lbs.
     
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  10. Rifledriver

    Rifledriver Three Time F1 World Champ

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    My uncle came aboard once in an F6F with unused ordinance and it didn't all stay attached. Lots of scrambling sailors I'm told. Rockets as I recall the story.
     
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  11. tazandjan

    tazandjan Three Time F1 World Champ
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    Brian- Affirmative. A lot of forward firing ordnance, like the AGM-65D Mavericks I tested, were held on their rails by shear pins. When the ordnance's rocket motor was fired, the rocket or missile broke the shear pin as it traveled along the launch rail. On a rough carrier or barrier landing, and sometimes even a normal landing, the 5 inch forward firing rockets then in use, or other forward firing ordnance, would generate enough forward momentum to break the shear pin and send the ordnance skittering across the flight deck or runway. Normally, the ordnance was unarmed and the rocket motors did not fire, but still kind of scary watching a live rocket bouncing toward you, another aircraft, an open elevator or the bridge/flight control tower.
     
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  12. kevin956

    kevin956 Formula Junior

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  13. tazandjan

    tazandjan Three Time F1 World Champ
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    I seriously doubt there are any F-117s in SW Asia now or in the recent past.
     
  14. Tcar

    Tcar F1 Rookie

    From Wiki.... take with a grain (or a truckload) of salt...

    "Although officially retired, the F-117 fleet remains intact and photos show the aircraft carefully mothballed.[53] Some of the aircraft are flown periodically,[78] and have been spotted flying as recently as February 2019.[79][80][81][82] In April 2019, it was reported that F-117s had been secretly deployed to the Middle East in 2016 and that one had to make an emergency landing at Ali Al Salem (AAS), Kuwait sometime late that year"
     
  15. tazandjan

    tazandjan Three Time F1 World Champ
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    Truckload for me.
     
  16. furmano

    furmano Three Time F1 World Champ
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    Is the coating and construction techniques to achieve stealth, along with the engine outlet design on the F-117 still considered a closely guarded secret?

    -F
     
  17. tazandjan

    tazandjan Three Time F1 World Champ
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    They have been going to airshows for years until they were retired. The coating composition is likely still classified and even though the Russians undoubtedly had access to samples from the one we lost, they are difficult to reverse engineer. Plus they are five or six generations behind now, and the new coatings are tougher and easier to maintain.
     
  18. Hannibal308

    Hannibal308 F1 Veteran
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    Just saw this...

    We just add fuel and ordinance weight to get a calculated final approach speed and then ignore it by flying AOA ‘til the flare. The F-16 lands very easily regardless of weight.
     
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  19. BMW.SauberF1Team

    BMW.SauberF1Team F1 World Champ

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    Hopefully someone gets the idea to bring a flew Blackbirds back out of retirement, too. ;)

    The F117 was taken out of display from the Palmdale museum...they have an SR71 and A12 that can easily be taken to Plant 42. ;)
     
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  20. kevin956

    kevin956 Formula Junior

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    Happy that I was able to see the F117 on display before they removed it. The gents there even let me pull my car alongside for a few pics. Would have taken a few more if I knew it was going to be gone so soon!!
     
  21. tazandjan

    tazandjan Three Time F1 World Champ
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    National Museum of the USAF still has an early F-117A (2nd one built for DT&E/OT&E) on display, I believe. Too much orange wiring on that one to put her back into service, most likely.

    With what we now know about coatings and materials, it would be easy to make a really, really stealthy F-117A.
     
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  22. kylec

    kylec F1 Rookie
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    What other planes have been retired and continued to fly? F-4/QF-4
    Anything else?
     
  23. BMW.SauberF1Team

    BMW.SauberF1Team F1 World Champ

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  24. tazandjan

    tazandjan Three Time F1 World Champ
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    They did. Last QF-4 I saw flying was painted up in wartime colors and was doing airshows manned. Not sure what happened to that one.
     

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