Forum: Military Aircraft of the Cold War

Lemme guess...Have Blue, and the wrong person(s) saw the cartoon in the break room. Am I right?

P.S. Pubs still suck...it doesn't matter what plane it is! Wink

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TC, you're right on the program, but the image was seen periodically in the break room Wink

. OK, I'll give you a hint - it has something to do with coffee Razz

P.S. - these pubs don't suck Thumb

! Neither do the ones for the YF-12, SR-71, or D-21...

Hmmm...coffee...a heat generated image perhaps?

Close, but no cigar Wink

.

OK, I'll give it up. F-117A.com has this excerpt from Ben Rich's book "Skunk Works"

Quote:

Another example is mentioned in Ben Rich's "Skunk Works":

"Keith Beswick, head of the flight test operations, designed a coffee mug for his crew with a clever logo showing the nose of Have Blue peeking from one end of a big cloud with a skunk's tail sticking out the back end. Because of the picture of the airplane's nose, security classified the mugs themselves as top secret. Beswick and his people had to lock them away in a safe between coffee breaks."

I had read that before, but I had never seen the image. Pete Merlin had this at the reunion and confirmed that it was the image from the mug Smile

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Active Member Joined: Jan 10, 2005 - 07:58 AM Posts: 137

Gonna miss the F-117. Awesome jet and great crews. Anyone who was at the El Paso airshow this year saw the knife edge pass on Sunday. Hell of a salute. Glad to hear that the skies over the NM desert will still be filled with cutting edge jets.

F-117 Ground Show/Passes
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQpgovNX77w

I know how it feels to lose an old friend...... Crying or Very sad

Was wondering if you guys were having the same scenario of retirement with no true replacement?..

Replacement for the 117: the F-35

Replacement for the F-14: the Super...oh never mind. Wink

TC,

Actually, both the F-22 and the F-35 will fill in for the F-117 Wink

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It's amazing to think of how far we've come since the F-117 was first flown back in 1981 Cool

The "Attack Raptor"... Laughing

That was more for the media to accept justification for a big price tag. See, what the media and the general public thought was "Ok, the 49th FW flies the 117. The 49th will become a Raptor wing. Therefore, the 22 MUST be the replacement for the 117." Not so. Remember what the 49th flew before they gained the 117 mission. The 117's mission had nothing to do with the Eagle's mission.

Now, it is true that the 117 is being retired, because the Raptor can do much more than what it did, and freeing up that money in the budget can allow the money to be put into newer programs, like the Raptor and the Lightning. However, the more accurate "replacement" for the 117 is the F-35. It just so happens, though, that the home of the 117 will be gaining a plane other than its direct replacement. Much like when an F-16 Guard unit gets its Vipers replaced with *GASP* C-130s or KC-135s. Tis true. It's happened. May happen again too.

Anyone want a job in a Guard unit, but having trouble being hired? Just wait til they have an airframe replacement.

Parrot, your pictures are not coming through...at least for me.

Roscoe wrote:

Parrot, your pictures are not coming through...at least for me.

Well, they're working for me on both home and work PCs, so I don't know what to tell ya. If you want to you can PM me with your email and I'll send 'em that way Wink

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Hi guys. I had the privilege of working on this unique airframe. 817 "Shaba" was my bird and I launched her out the day she retired. I was an ACC on her. I then became a DCC on 814, or was it [Link pending approval] one of the two, which I launched out as well. So I feel lucky, there are two F117's at TTR with my name on them. And cutlassracer, you are right, 807 was a leaky pig. i think we found that leak which was behind the left intake tube. fixed it but "it"(807) continued to leak. she just liked leaking. I was on the F117's LAST operational deployment to korea. I left Holloman shortly after standing up the fisrt F-22 squadron when we were deactivated as the 9th and re-activated as the 7th.

Forum: Military Aircraft of the Cold War

First six F-117s sent to Tonopah "Boneyard"