Lockheed Have Blue

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Have Blue was the code-name for Lockheed's "proof of concept" (i.e. prototype) Stealth Fighter program which preceded the F-117 Nighthawk production stealth aircraft project. The Have Blue was the first fixed-wing aircraft designed from an electrical engineering (rather than an aerodynamic) perspective. The aircraft's plate-like, faceted shape was designed to deflect electromagnetic waves, making the plane essentially invisible to radar.

Two Have Blue planes were built to test both the flight dynamics and radar-returns of the stealth concept. These prototypes flew at Groom Lake, Nevada, between 1977 and 1979. While they appear similar to the later F-117, the Have Blue prototypes were smaller aircraft, with greater wing sweep and inward-canted vertical tails.

During testing of the design, the aircraft was flown near (~100 miles away) to an army radar system, followed at some significant distance by a spotter plane; over a preplanned flight path. The cover story for the technology was that a black box in the nose of the aircraft was able to deflect the radar; whereas obviously the shape of the aircraft did all the real work. The army only managed to detect the spotter plane; although a soldier placed on the ground directly under the flight path had to witness the weird looking plane to verify that the flight had occurred.

The design was aerodynamically unstable. Both planes were lost in crashes, and the debris from these aircraft was buried near the lake bed.

"Even though the test site was in a remote location, our airplane was kept under wraps inside its hangar most of the time. Soviet spy satellites made regular passes, and every time our airplane was rolled out everyone on the base who wasn't cleared for Have Blue had to go into the windowless mess hall and have a cup of coffee until we took off." --Ben Rich, director of Lockheed's Skunk Works from 1975 to 1991.

[edit] Specifications (Have Blue)

[edit] General characteristics

Crew: one pilot
Length: 47 ft 3 in (14.4 m)
Wingspan: 22 ft 6 in (6.8 m)
Height: 7 ft 6 in (2.33 m)
Wing area: 386 ft² (35.9 m²)
Empty: 8,950 lb (4,060 kg)
Loaded: lb ( kg)
Maximum takeoff: 12,500 lb (5,670 kg)
Powerplant: 2x General Electric J85-GE-4A turbojets. 2,950 lbf (13.1 kN) thrust each