F117 post retirement

Originally posted by gariac
Video can be found here:
www.lazygranch.com...

The video shows both the F117 with unknown tail number and the Lincoln Labs radar plane N105TB.

around :20, I do not think that is N105TB or the NT-43, may very well be refueling behind a KC-10

Sounds like they have 5 of them up and running for testing that were brought back shortly after the retirement.

Originally posted by LSWONE
Sounds like they have 5 of them up and running for testing that were brought back shortly after the retirement.

Do you have a source for that? Would not surprise me some were brought back

reply to post by firepilot


I went down the hall and asked someone.
Second line.

reply to post by firepilot


Well I wasn't going to mention the tanker and missed it in the video. But since you (grrrr!) spotted the KC-10 and you can't un-ring the bell, yes, it did tank. Now this seemed odd to both me and the observers on scene. You figure for a limited test, the plane could hold enough fuel. Tanking would be for perhaps proficiency or mission training, but there is (in theory) no mission for the F117, and who needs to be proficient with a plane no longer in use?

First off though is what on earth is that F-117 doing direct beneath and behind the radar test airframe? it looks so close the pilot could pop the lid and reach out and touch it.

Ahhhh so that is the F-117 going to tank and not at the RCS tester? explains why its so damn close. Thats mad. Must of been one hell of a long test flight!

The F117 both tanked AND played with N105TB. Being sniffed by N105TB makes sense. Why it had to tank doesn't. Now possibly they wanted the plane to take off light in the event something would go wrong, i.e. it wouldn't have to burn off fuel. That scenario seems unlikely to me.

Probably not related, but a mock-up of the F117 has been spotted in China. See this link:
F117 mock-up in China

There are mock-ups and then there are mock-ups. Sometimes the fake aircraft is just a photo target. You can spot a few Sukoi Su-27 mock-ups near Creech that as used as photo targets for predator training.

Seeing the F117 underneath the K-10 reminded me of this:






But seriously, this is quite interesting to know it's still operational.

Originally posted by gariac
reply to post by firepilot

 

Well I wasn't going to mention the tanker and missed it in the video. But since you (grrrr!) spotted the KC-10 and you can't un-ring the bell, yes, it did tank. Now this seemed odd to both me and the observers on scene. You figure for a limited test, the plane could hold enough fuel. Tanking would be for perhaps proficiency or mission training, but there is (in theory) no mission for the F117, and who needs to be proficient with a plane no longer in use?

You seem like you were not happy that I mentioned the KC-10 in the video...why?

reply to post by firepilot


No big deal really, but the tanking creates a lot more questions regarding the test. Why bother tanking when you can land and refuel? Or was the tanker there for other purposes? Basically the tanker creates more questions that probably are not all that relevant. Viewing the raw footage, at times it looked like the F117 was flying under the tanker rather than being tanked, but with the quality of the imagery, this stuff is debatable. And yes, it did look a lot like that Executive Decision movie. ;-)

reply to post by gariac


they could have been using the tanker to take photos of the f-177 during this test. which could explain why it appears to be flying closer to the tanker than they do when refueling. but like you said mentioning the tanker opens up millions of possible questions about why the tanker during a test.

Getting pics from the tanker makes some sense if what ever modifications they have made are all on the upper front - where a chase plane cannot photo head on..

That said, how long is the F-117s legs? maybe they have a tight test schedule and need it in the air as much as was possible and thus they tanked it up.

Oh and Gariac - any more sightings of this or the RQ-170 that was over TTR the other day?

reply to post by Astr0


Oh, somebody saw a RQ-170 at the TTR?

I had to laugh at how nobody, including myself, got a shot of the Sentinel at the TTR. The squadron was announced in the press, though what they were going to fly wasn't announced. The perimeter of the TTR has been visited by the curious plenty of times since the announcement. Nothing. Zip. Nada. Same goes for BOP and Polecat at Groom. These guys only let you see what they want you to see.

The person that shot the F117 is no longer in the ranges. Pretty much if you want to see anything around the range, you need to be there a while and need to get lucky. You need to hang out in the flight cooridors. Rachel is the last place to see anything since the powers that be known the area is inhabited. It is also a radio hole being in a valley. Queen City Summit and points north live Reveille valley is where many test articles fly.

The "F" designation for the Nighthawk was really more of a concession to pilots than any real meaning. Even if officially retired, they'd still use them for testing, training, wargames, etc. Not to mention, they could always bring them back in if needed (like they did with the Blackbird a couple of times)...

They are really more bombers anyhow, and I could see them still serving that role well (especially if escorted by stealth fighters to engage in any dogfights that would be needed).

www.youtube.com...


well, looks like some one got some quality low level footage in July 2010. So what ever they been doing, they had it all up and running for a while.

reply to post by Astr0


Most of the range is not fenced and gated as shown near the end of the video. This would probably be shot around the north side of the range.

They run a website called www.nellisspotters.com. Thus far, these two guys have been reliable in their documentation. That is, I don't think they would post old video for a hoax.

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The F-117s have been photographed again, and a thought just struck me.

What airframe has a gridded inlet for LO purposes? an F-117. What airframe for the UCLASS fight has a gridded intake? The Lockheed Sea Ghost.

So, thinking about this, how about dusting off an F-117, putting the UAV automated systems and gridded intake on a F-117, have a man onboard for safety, and see how the software copes with taking a tanker sortie and other duties? the RCS testing air craft would be getting close up shoots of the intake and maybe some surface treatments.

That way, Lockheed don't have to fly a UAV about before its really ready to see the public eye.