Stealth through the years

a reply to: Badgermole42

I think old Stevie boy has witnessed a few tests, but he always seems to be in the right place at the right time so either he's incredibly lucky or someone's feeding him info on where to look like with the Amarillo craft.

I don't think that craft will be talked about in any way shape or form for a while yet.

But anyway back on topic now.

originally posted by: B2StealthBomber
But anyway back on topic now.

I appreciate everyone pointing me in the general direction. I've been lurking here for years... This thread caught my attention yesterday as I had just read a few emails from an uncle of mine (now deceased) who had worked for quite a while for LM from around '73-97. I am fairly certain he worked within the Have Blue program (because he told me he did) although I cannot confirm it. Over the years, I have seen several off-hand posts made here that bore a striking resemblance to some of our last conversations before he died. Honestly, if half of what he told me is/was true...

Boeing BIRD OF PREY one of the stealthiest designs made public for an aircraft. The RCS was said to be in the small bug range. Dear members how do you post pictures on this site the insert image link appears not to be working. Thanks Empire 101

originally posted by: Empire101
Dear members how do you post pictures on this site the insert image link appears not to be working. Thanks Empire 101

You have to host the image you're posting off the ATS server, as far as I can tell.

Where did things go wrong for you?

From the ground based size of the weapon it has to be a largish size carrier.C130 sized or bigger.
Stealth and hypersonics cant happen together.Yes they can mitigate the sonic boom but the thermal disturbance and wake vorticies of the plane ripping through the atmosphere would be a telling tale.

Thanks for replying Bedlam. When I access the "insert an image from your library" link it just stays black not allowing me to insert an image. So what your telling me is I can link to a page with a picture but not actually post a picture directly to this site??? is that right.

a reply to: Empire101 I got it to work.

sounds like the problem is your images are saved in the wrong ats library. it needs to be in the public one to link it from a post. or at least thats how i do it.
here, save the picture or image to your computer or phone. go to the upload bar (looks like a cloud) on the ats site. hit the upload button once there. it will ask you to select an image from your computer. select image and then hit "upload" once done it will prompt you as to which gallery you want to put it in. select "public" go into the thread you want to post picture in start a post click the picture icon and select picture. sometimes the select picture icon is half hidden or covered. if that's the case just go to your gallery and copy and paste the file to your post manually.

Thanks BASSPLYR a little complicated but got it.
Now for my post. Boeing Bird of Prey probably the lowest RCS Technology Demonstrator released to the public.

And my design for a stable manned variant.

And PS job from Dragon 029 from secret projects. He did a great job.

a reply to: Empire101

The Bird of Prey was both manned and extremely stable for a modern aircraft. It was never going to be more than a technology demonstrator though, as it was developed internally using Boeing money.

a reply to: Zaphod58

Hey Zaphod. The Bird of Prey was not extremely stable it was designed to just get the shape into the air to test it. There is a good article over at the Dreamland resort site by Peter Merlin. My version makes it stable to use as a bomb platform. And lets be real Boeing was probably hoping the pentagon would want a bomber version after they saw the RCS results. And who knows maybe they have a few Silver bullet planes tucked away at area 51, LOL

a reply to: Empire101

Compared to just about any other modern aircraft it was. One of the things about relaxed stability aircraft. Part of the problem was the low thrust-weight ratio of the engine used, combined with the smaller size. If it was scaled up to a larger airframe, and given better power, it would have flown better IMO.

Boeing knew that the Pentagon wasn't going to want a bomber, or any other version. The point of the program was to learn about stealth, and how to control different signatures. They were trying to develop new technology for the X-45 program, and later programs.

a reply to: Zaphod58

Ya I admit thrust to weight was part of the problem but the shape was also a big contributor. A fin had to be added to help with stability problems they wanted to remove it but could not because of the problems. This is one of my favorite aircraft. Wish they had made a manned bomber version to replace f-117. Guess the f-35 messed that up.

a reply to: Badgermole42

I've read that train issue had to do with the Israelis. Who really knows though. No insight into the other one though...

a reply to: Empire101

It wasn't offered for anything and wasn't going to be. Ever.

as allways Zaphod a great example of your knowledge My only argument would be that actualy camoflauge would be the first step in stealth, it been an attempt to reduce the visual signature of an aircraft and would take stealth back to ww1

a reply to: Zaphod58

I have absolutely nothing of merit to contribute toward your thread, but I always enjoy reading them and learning. Much respect for your aviation knowledge and willingness to share it.

a reply to: urbanfox

True, but I was going for more active countermeasures than just camouflage. That opens the thread up to a lot more. It was long enough to write as it is.

Ok, massive WTF moment. This just came across my Facebook feed.

www.airspacemag.com...