ChernayaAkula Posted March 15, 2009 Share Posted March 15, 2009 (edited) Ouch! R.I.P. LINK TO STORY* Apparently, this was a test run for the scrapping of the F-117 fleet in storage at the Tonopah Test Range, Nevada. *Link found over on whatifmodelers.com Edited March 15, 2009 by ChernayaAkula Quote Link to post Share on other sites
AnthonyWan Posted March 15, 2009 Share Posted March 15, 2009 A painful sight indeed Quote Link to post Share on other sites
TomcatFanatic123 Posted March 15, 2009 Share Posted March 15, 2009 That's pretty sad...back in August, I was lucky enough to see the final two active ones buzzing around the Palmdale plant a few days before they left for Tonopah when my friend and I made a wrong turn on our way to Arizona. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
madmanrick Posted March 15, 2009 Share Posted March 15, 2009 I sure hope that they preserve a good number of these in museums. Shame for them to go out that way though. Rick Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Samurai_Chris Posted March 15, 2009 Share Posted March 15, 2009 Australia could have used a couple to keep Indonesia and Malaysia honest.. Oh well... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
HOLMES Posted March 15, 2009 Share Posted March 15, 2009 Ouch! :( Apparently, this was a test run for the scrapping of the F-117 fleet in storage at the Tonopah Test Range, Nevada. This is indeed such a painful sight to see...Am I right in thinking that they will have taken out the HEART{ engine et al } and other useful components for it to be re-used elsewhere, not neccessarily on another Aircrfat of this calibre.. Its just that once I saw a Boeing being dismantled and they took out its "guts" and used useful stuff from it for other things.. Sorry for asking too many pertinent questions.. :) HOLMES... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Cobrahistorian Posted March 15, 2009 Share Posted March 15, 2009 Sad. I hope that a significant number of the survivors are eventually preserved in museums. Too significant an achievement not to be! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
richter111 Posted March 15, 2009 Share Posted March 15, 2009 I am sure a few will be, but like the tomcats, I think some of the technology is too important to risk finding it's way into foreign hands Quote Link to post Share on other sites
pookie Posted March 15, 2009 Share Posted March 15, 2009 I Rather see them this way than taken apart piece by piece at some chinese hangar to be copied. Ask the Russians. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
yardbird78 Posted March 16, 2009 Share Posted March 16, 2009 Take the RAM coating off, remove the IR and electronics along with the engines and you don't have much left that would be considered classified. The USAF probably won't fly them to museums and overland transportation is VERY expensive. Most museums can't afford to get one. It WOULD be nice to see an F-117 sitting beside the various A-12 and SR-71 Blackbirds around the country. Darwin Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RedHeadKevin Posted March 16, 2009 Share Posted March 16, 2009 (edited) So...no Nighthawk in the Smithsonian?! or at Wright-Pat? or on the Intrepid?! double-you-tee-eff?! Edited March 16, 2009 by RedHeadKevin Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Cobrahistorian Posted March 16, 2009 Share Posted March 16, 2009 We'll see a few. Not many, but a few. Like Yardbird said. Technology can be removed from airframes. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
MiG31 Posted March 16, 2009 Share Posted March 16, 2009 I'd like to see at least one preserved at the NASM, plus a few other places where it would be appropriate. Given they spent the money to transport A-12s to various museums and other spots for display, I could see them doing the same for the Nighthawk. At least there's already one in Dayton. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Julien (UK) Posted March 16, 2009 Share Posted March 16, 2009 Like has been said, remove the engines, RAM and tyhe electronics and basically a shell. The technology of faceting as used by the F-117 is know but just really even now not affordable for a one use platform. Would be a big shame if they did not goto museums, I would like to see one at Duxford, dont know if that will happen though. Julien Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Wayne S Posted March 16, 2009 Share Posted March 16, 2009 Like has been said,remove the engines, RAM and tyhe electronics and basically a shell. The technology of faceting as used by the F-117 is know but just really even now not affordable for a one use platform. Would be a big shame if they did not goto museums, I would like to see one at Duxford, dont know if that will happen though. Julien There is only a few of them in the first place, any they scrap is just crazy to me. They should be bagged up and stored, if museums etc. do not have the means or money now, 20 years from now who knows. Future generations are getting robbed of so much history it is crazy. What will Heritage flights look like 50 years from now? A P-51 or some WWI/II aircraft and what ever will be of the time then? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Scott R Wilson Posted March 16, 2009 Share Posted March 16, 2009 Ouch! :) R.I.P. LINK TO STORY* Apparently, this was a test run for the scrapping of the F-117 fleet in storage at the Tonopah Test Range, Nevada. Posted on the USMilAviation group on Google: The tale of tail 784 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Anyone interested in military aviation will be interested. F-117A serial number 79-0784, the 5th and final pre-production F-117A flown by the now deactivated 410th Flight Test Squadron, AF Plant 42, Palmdale, Ca, was mutilated and scrapped on Tuesday 26 August, 2008. The sad event of 784's demise took place at Plant 42, in just 30 minutes with little fanfare. There was "no vacancy" at Tonopah, Nevada, the current home of the mothballed F-117 fleet. Attempts were made to transfer ownership to many high profile museums, however, none could afford the nearly $1,000,000 price tag to demilitarize and transport the aircraft. So with few alternatives, F-117A serial number 79-0784 earned yet another but, final distinction. It became the first F-117A to be cut up and scrapped, the eventual fate of most of the remaining F-117A Stealth Fighters. _____|_____ Ed Humphreys _____|_____ Quote Link to post Share on other sites
UK_tomcat_fan Posted March 16, 2009 Share Posted March 16, 2009 Seeing this reminds me of watching the Tomcat being torn apart :) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Skyraider Maniac Posted March 16, 2009 Share Posted March 16, 2009 Just so y'all know - there is an F-117 on display at the aircraft park on Holloman AFB - it's right across from an F-15A which was the previous aircraft to fly with the 49th FW before the F-117. It was placed there recently. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
MiG31 Posted March 16, 2009 Share Posted March 16, 2009 Blackbird Airpark also recently received one of the YF-117s, so there's hope that some venues will receive Nighthawks. To be honest, I'd be surprised if they don't send one to the NASM or Udvar-Hazy Center. Surely the Smithsoninan could afford to acquire an F-117. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Rigid Rotorhead Posted March 17, 2009 Share Posted March 17, 2009 I will have to check with my sources at the museum here in Dayton, but I am pretty sure the museum is slated to receive a Nighthawk sometime in the (hopefully near) future. As mentioned elsewhere in this topic, the museum already has one on display...however, it was NOT an operational example; it was only a test bird. When acquiring aircraft, or any other artifacts for that matter, the curators here strive to obtain items with a significant history, particularly those that actually saw combat. For example, they may try to obtain the first one to bomb Baghdad during Desert Storm, the last one to drop ordnance in anger, or perhaps the one with the most combat sorties overall. I will check and let you guys know what I find out, if anything. Cheers, Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mizar Posted March 17, 2009 Share Posted March 17, 2009 So the sneaky garretts are gone forever?So sad... Luigi Quote Link to post Share on other sites
adamitri Posted April 10, 2009 Share Posted April 10, 2009 there used to be one of the FSD models at Nellis AFB on display at the airpark in 1993. dunno if its still there Quote Link to post Share on other sites
illithid00 Posted April 10, 2009 Share Posted April 10, 2009 there used to be one of the FSD models at Nellis AFB on display at the airpark in 1993. dunno if its still there There's one up on a pole in Freedom Park. I'm not sure if it's the same one you're talking about, but it's there, along with an F-86, F-100, F-111, F-4D, F-5E, A-10, and F-105G. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
The Dude Posted April 10, 2009 Share Posted April 10, 2009 There is only a few of them in the first place, any they scrap is just crazy to me. They should be bagged up and stored, if museums etc. do not have the means or money now, 20 years from now who knows. Future generations are getting robbed of so much history it is crazy. What will Heritage flights look like 50 years from now? A P-51 or some WWI/II aircraft and what ever will be of the time then? Agreed, Just think if that would have been done 60+ years ago in Germany and Japan, we'd have 110's, 190's, 109's, Zeros, etc in every museum. Instead the planes were bulldozed into junk piles and sold off for scrap. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jinxter13 Posted April 10, 2009 Share Posted April 10, 2009 A truly sad day for aviation history......maybe someone with the moolah will have them do a mockup..for the sake of preservation and history.....in that short a time it's come and gone...with what's probably on the drawing boards the "Raptor" had better do a real bang up job and keep doing it for sometime...well maybe...The F-15E is still doing it and it's older than the stealth Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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