"Stephen D. Grant" <miles@ms.uky.edu> (10/30/90)
From: "Stephen D. Grant" <miles@ms.uky.edu> Hi. I was in Dalton's bookstore yesterday and picked up what looked like a new book. I'm sorry I didnt remember the author(s) or publisher, but the title has F117A in it and it is a relatively thin book. What was great about this book was the detail it went into about the F117 program which was code named 'have blue'. It described the dawn of stealth aircraft such as the U2 and SR71, and described the decisions and development of the F117 as we know it today. Other chapters and areas dealt with and described: Construction Security and Secrecy Testing Pilot Selection Aircraft Numbers and # produced Schematics and good diagrams Oodles of detailed photographs of various F117 fuselage and other details Great descritpion and writeup of the program as a whole There were two very interesting parts of the book which I read in the store. One was about the publicized crash of one of the prototypes in 1982 which ploughed into a california hillside in the Sequoia National Forest. According to the author, once the Air force realized it had crashed, it immediately release information regarding a 'crash' of a 'pilot', but did not mention the plane (obviously). Security teams were helo'ed out to the site immediately, and the area was declared a national security area upon arrival. No-one could enter or overfly the area. In the meantime the USAF was combing the forest to pick up any pieces of the top-secret RAM (Radar Absorbent Material) which was now splintered into half-dollar sized pieces. After the wreckage was secretly taken away and cleaned up in accordance to security measures, the USAF then took a wrecked F104 fighter and buried parts of it in the same spot of the crash so as to confuse and also satisfy treasure hunters.. Clever.. very clever.. Also mentioned alot was a facility called 'Groom Lake' which is meant to be a super secret testing base out in the south west. (Nevada I assume). It is here many 'black' projects get their start or testing, and is also where some of the 'black' project manufacturers have facilities. Also here are some of the captured MiGs which the US has in its possesion (mentioned in the book were MiG 21's and 23's). Does anyone know anything else about this elusive and mysterious place? It sounds trully dangerous, neat and HIGHLY black. Miles Comments? ============================================================================= Stephen D. Grant, "Miles" | Hell Opened Up and Put on Sale; miles@s.ms.uky.edu | Gather Round and Haggle.. (no coupons) =============================================================================