Lockheed Have Blue
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| Have Blue | |
|---|---|
 HAVE BLUE on a ground test stand |
|
| Type | Stealth demonstrator |
| Manufacturer | Lockheed |
| Designed by | Lockheed Skunk Works |
| Maiden flight | December 1st, 1977 |
| Introduced | 1976 |
| Retired | 1979 |
| Status | Planes destroyed in crashes |
| Primary user | United States Air Force |
| Number built | 2 |
| Variants | F-117 Nighthawk |
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 this 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, about 60% scale, with greater wing sweep and inward-canted vertical tails. The nose of Have Blue prototypes was also sharper and offered a slightly higher degree of stealth compared to production F-117 planes, which had to have a flat windshield to incorporate a head-up display.
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. Radar only managed to detect the spotter plane; 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 inherently unstable about all three axes, control being fly-by-wire adapted from the F-16's single-axis fly-by-wire system. Both aircraft were ultimately lost in the course of testing, the first from a hard landing incident which resulted in the gear being jammed in semi-retracted position and the pilot ultimately being ordered to eject after attempts to persuade the gear to lower and lock proved unsuccessful. The second was the result of an engine fire which severed hydraulic lines, forcing the pilot to eject. The debris from both aircraft was secretly buried somewhere within the Nellis complex.[1]
"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)
This aircraft article is missing some (or all) of its specifications. If you have a source, you can help Wikipedia by adding them.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 weight: 8,950 lb (4,060 kg)
- Max takeoff weight: 12,500 lb (5,670 kg)
- Powerplant: 2× General Electric J85-GE-4A turbojets
Performance
- Maximum speed: 600 mph (970 km/h)
- Range: 600 mi (970 km)
- Wing loading: 32 lb/ft² (156 kg/m²)
[edit] See also
Related development
Comparable aircraft
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