Wayne S Posted June 12, 2011 Share Posted June 12, 2011 Anyone find others like this? http://www.patricksaviation.com/files/photos/full/24701_18623.jpg Quote Link to post Share on other sites
-Neu- Posted June 12, 2011 Share Posted June 12, 2011 No, but there is this photo from another Skunk Works project. As an aside, I started reading Ben Rich's book Skunk Works... if you're interested in the F-117 and other black projects this is one of the best I've come across. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
deadmeat Posted June 12, 2011 Share Posted June 12, 2011 I have to wonder how fast they could get them back into service in a time of need. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Wayne S Posted June 12, 2011 Author Share Posted June 12, 2011 I have to wonder how fast they could get them back into service in a time of need. Most likely depend on the pilots. From what I heard there are some in flyable status, if they only have a few pilots flying them or not, I do not know. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Steve N Posted June 12, 2011 Share Posted June 12, 2011 That picure of the Blackbirds reminds me of another "black" government storage facility. Also run by "top men." SN Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Wolfgun33 Posted June 12, 2011 Share Posted June 12, 2011 I really wish people would quit taking pics of my garage. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
MikeC Posted June 12, 2011 Share Posted June 12, 2011 I really wish people would quit taking pics of my garage. Why, is that your stash? :P :D Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Berkut Posted June 12, 2011 Share Posted June 12, 2011 That picture is pretty old, and is the only one i have seen of them in storage. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
yardbird78 Posted June 12, 2011 Share Posted June 12, 2011 I sometimes wonder why the USAF is keeping them at all. It is extremely unlikely that we will ever sell/give them to any allied nation and nearly as unlikely to reactivate them for USAF. There are supposedly none flying so as to need these for spart parts. It only takes a few years and there are no pilots qualified to fly them and it would be very expensive and time consuming to get a new batch of pilots qualified/re-qualified to do so. Why not either scrap them or parcel them out to museums and save the expensive storage costs? The USAF Museum already has one on public display and the "stealth technology" for these birds is pretty much obsolete, so security problems would seem to be minor. Darwin Quote Link to post Share on other sites
aircommando130 Posted June 12, 2011 Share Posted June 12, 2011 I had a former F-117 maintenance guy coming through school to be a flight engineer and he said that 4 airframes are flying out of the other base North of Nellis. The ones in storage at Tonopah are being cut up and buried out on the range so nobody will ever have access to them. Sad end for an airplane that served it's country so well. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Berkut Posted June 12, 2011 Share Posted June 12, 2011 I had a former F-117 maintenance guy coming through school to be a flight engineer and he said that 4 airframes are flying out of the other base North of Nellis. The ones in storage at Tonopah are being cut up and buried out on the range so nobody will ever have access to them. Sad end for an airplane that served it's country so well. 4? I have heard there was only two, that is interesting news. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
aircommando130 Posted June 12, 2011 Share Posted June 12, 2011 Yep...he said 4 flyers and 2 maintenance spares for parts. I guess they took the 6 lowest time airframes. Another guy who was a 117 pilot that took a few to Tonopah from Holloman said that the pilots currently flying them are retired AF and work for Lockheed as contractor pilots. That has to be a fun job. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Berkut Posted June 12, 2011 Share Posted June 12, 2011 Yep...he said 4 flyers and 2 maintenance spares for parts. I guess they took the 6 lowest time airframes. Another guy who was a 117 pilot that took a few to Tonopah from Holloman said that the pilots currently flying them are retired AF and work for Lockheed as contractor pilots. That has to be a fun job. Very cool, thanks for the info. I guess the whole "reactivation" is F-35 related. For example coatings... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Steve N Posted June 12, 2011 Share Posted June 12, 2011 (edited) Those are obviously models..look at the Tamiya Tape covering the canopies and intakes! On a more serious note..I'm surprised by the colors. I thought all the F-117s were black, but a couple of those appear to be gunship gray. SN Edited June 12, 2011 by Steve N Quote Link to post Share on other sites
GreyGhost Posted June 12, 2011 Share Posted June 12, 2011 There were a few that received grey repaints late in their service ... >>> Grey Dragon <<< Gregg Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Iron Man Posted June 12, 2011 Share Posted June 12, 2011 Look at the year on one of the tail codes 85. Thats over 25 yrs old. WOW! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Trigger Posted June 12, 2011 Share Posted June 12, 2011 I thought all the F-117s were black, but a couple of those appear to be gunship gray. TwoBobs made the gray F-117s a subject on 48-134, "F-117A Silver Anniversary Bandits" Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jennings Posted June 12, 2011 Share Posted June 12, 2011 The 117 is an antique folks. They won't be returned to service, count on that. It's not like there were thousands made and a few hundred are in storage. If that were the case, there'd still be a supply pipeline for them, a pilot training pipeline for them, etc, etc. None of that is the case. It doesn't take long for those things to wither and die, and once they're gone, especially on a maintenance intensive airplane like the 117, they're gone for good. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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