Stunning Video And Photos Of Skunk Works Preparing An F-117 For The Reagan Library

By Joseph Trevithick and Tyler Rogoway

Updated Nov 8, 2019 11:41 PM EST

Lockheed Martin has released a video offering a behind-the-scenes look at the work it has been doing to demilitarize and restore a retired U.S. Air Force F-117 Nighthawk , tail number 803 and nicknamed “Unexpected Guest,” which will eventually be headed for the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum in California. The War Zone

was first to report that the Reagan Presidential Library would be getting one of these aircraft in September 2019.

The Reagan Presidential Foundation, which manages the Reagan Presidential Library, had also issued a press release earlier this week detailing what it is calling Operation Nighthawk Landing. The Foundation has been working with both the Air Force and Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works advanced projects division, which was responsible for the development of the F-117, to get the jet ready to go on display outside the Library next to its existing F-14 Tomcat fighter jet, one of a number of aircraft in its overall collection.

Lockheed Martin’s video confirms shows the F-117 heading to the Skunk Works facilities at Plant 42 in southern California on a flatbed truck. This truck, as well as the orange pickup truck escorting it, is identical to the one that bystanders in that area saw carrying a Nighthawk in mid-August and this all but confirms that the plane they saw was Unexpected Guest.

A picture of an F-117 on a flat bed truck near Plant 42 in mid-August 2019. It is extremely likely that this was Unexpected Guest based on the video Lockheed Martin has released., Christopher McGreevy/ @ohwiss

When we see the Nighthawk unwrapped in the video, it is “in the white,” indicating that its specialized and highly toxic radar-absorbing skin was removed before leaving storage at the secretive Tonopah Test Range Airport. This is where the remaining fleet of 51 F-117s have been in semi-active storage since their official retirement since 2008. As the War Zone

first reported in August , this is also where the Air Force has built a new “media blasting” facility to strip this coating from those jets in preparation to destroy them. The service has set aside a dozen jets to go on display in the future in museums, such as the Reagan Presidential Library and the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force.

Though “in the white,” Unexpected Guest retained a piece of artwork on one of its main landing gear bay doors bearing its nickname and a depiction of the character Beetlejuice riding a precision-guided bomb through the roof of a building. Beetlejuice first appeared in a movie of the same name in 1988, the same year that the U.S. government officially disclosed the Nighthawk to the public., Lockheed Martin

We then get to see an interesting time-lapse of personnel reattaching the wings and installing dummy fittings in place of the radar-absorbing composite fairings that originally lined the jet’s edges. This type of work would also be necessary to remove these sensitive features from other areas of the aircraft, including the exhaust area and tails.

The entire demilitarization process is complex and time-consuming and also involves stripping out any other sensitive materials and equipment, as well as recovering any parts that might still be useful. You can read more about this in this past War Zone piece .

The video then shows the team at Skunk Works priming and painting the jet. Since the aircraft will be on display outside, the mutliple layers of paint are also necessary to seal it against the elements.

The scheme it is now waring is what it wore when it was assigned to the 416th Tactical Fighter Squadron , the Ghostriders, later known just as the 416th Fighter Squadron, an operational F-117 unit that existed between 1989 and 1993. It also carries the appropriate “TR” tail code for Tonopah Test Range Airport, which is where the unit was based. The 416th was one of the units that brought the F-117 “into the light” after the U.S. government declassified its existence in 1988.

The insignia of the 416th Tactical Fighter Wing, the “Ghost Riders,” on F-117 Tail Number 803 following preparations at Plant 42 to send it to the Reagan Presidential Library., Lockheed Martin capture

“I was privileged to fly the airplane when the program was classified,” retired U.S. Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Scott Stimpert, who was among the pilots who flew this particular aircraft operationally, said in the Reagan Presidential Foundation’s statement . “It was an exciting time, and a vitally important capability, but not something you could share with friends or family. I’m glad the airplane can come out of the dark to take its rightful place in the light, somewhere it can be seen and appreciated by the people it helped to protect.”

During its service life, Unexpected Guest was the most active of the F-117s, flying a total of 78 combat missions, more than all other Nighthawks, including taking part in the type’s combat debut over Panama in 1989, according to the Reagan Presidential Foundation. You can read more about the Nighthawk’s developmental and operational history, as well as about how much of a proponent of the aircraft President Reagan was, in this past War Zone piece .

Unexpected Guest will be on display, barring a change of plans by the Reagan Presidential Foundation, starting Dec. 7. Check out this awesome gallery of images Lockheed shot during its preparation for the F-117’s new home:

Contact the author: joe@thedrive.com

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作者：约瑟夫·特雷维西克和泰勒·罗戈韦

更新于美国东部时间2019年11月8日晚上11:41。

洛克希德·马丁公司发布了一段视频，展示了其对一架退役的美国空军F-117“夜鹰”战斗机（尾号803，绰号“不速之客”）进行去军事化和修复工作的幕后过程。这架飞机最终将被送往位于加利福尼亚州的罗纳德·里根总统图书馆暨博物馆。

最早报道里根总统图书馆将于 2019 年 9 月接收其中一架飞机的消息。

负责管理里根总统图书馆的里根总统基金会本周早些时候也发布了一份新闻稿，详细介绍了其所谓的“夜鹰着陆行动”。该基金会一直在与美国空军以及负责F-117战斗机研发的洛克希德·马丁公司臭鼬工厂先进项目部门合作，以确保这架战机能够与图书馆现有的F-14“雄猫”战斗机（该馆藏品包括众多飞机）一起在图书馆外展出。

洛克希德·马丁公司发布的视频证实，一架F-117战斗机正被装载在一辆平板卡车上，前往位于南加州42号工厂的臭鼬工厂。这辆卡车以及护送它的橙色皮卡，与8月中旬附近目击者看到的运送“夜鹰”战斗机的卡车完全相同，这几乎可以确定他们看到的飞机就是“不速之客”。

2019年8月中旬，一架F-117战斗机被放置在42号工厂附近的一辆平板卡车上。根据洛克希德·马丁公司发布的视频，这极有可能就是“意外来客”（Unexpected Guest）。（克里斯托弗·麦格里维/@ohwiss）

视频中，我们看到“夜鹰”战机被拆解时，机身呈白色，这表明其特制的、剧毒的雷达吸波涂层在离开位于神秘的托诺帕试验场机场的仓库之前已被移除。自2008年正式退役以来，剩余的51架F-117战机一直处于半现役封存状态。

据8月份首次报道，空军还在这里新建了一座“喷砂”设施，用于去除这些战机上的涂层，以便将其销毁。空军已选定十几架战机，计划未来在博物馆展出，例如里根总统图书馆和美国空军国家博物馆。

尽管“意外来客”（Unexpected Guest）号飞机已“涂装成白色”，但其主起落架舱门上仍然保留着一幅艺术作品，上面印有它的昵称以及“甲壳虫汁”（Beetlejuice）骑着一枚精确制导炸弹穿过建筑物屋顶的图案。甲壳虫汁首次出现在1988年上映的同名电影中，同年，美国政府正式向公众展示了“夜鹰”（Nighthawk）飞机。洛克希德·马丁公司

接下来，我们看到一段有趣的延时摄影，展示了工作人员重新安装机翼，并用模拟部件替换原先安装在飞机边缘的雷达吸波复合材料整流罩。类似的工作对于移除飞机其他部位（包括排气区域和尾翼）的这些敏感部件也必不可少。

整个非军事化过程既复杂又耗时，还包括拆除所有其他敏感材料和设备，以及回收任何可能仍然有用的部件。您可以在之前的《战区》文章中了解更多相关信息。

视频随后展示了臭鼬工厂团队为这架喷气式飞机进行底漆和面漆喷涂的场景。由于这架飞机将在户外展出，因此需要喷涂多层油漆以保护其免受风吹雨淋。

这架飞机现在的涂装方案，正是它隶属于第416战术战斗机中队（绰号“幽灵骑士”）时所采用的涂装。该中队后来更名为第416战斗机中队，是一支装备F-117战斗机的作战部队，存在于1989年至1993年间。飞机尾翼上还印有“TR”字样，代表该部队驻扎的托诺帕试验场机场。1988年美国政府解密F-117战斗机的存在后，第416战斗机中队是让F-117“重见天日”的部队之一。

在洛克希德·马丁公司42号工厂完成准备工作，即将送往里根总统图书馆后，F-117战斗机尾号803上印有第416战术战斗机联队“幽灵骑士”的标志。

“我曾有幸在项目保密期间驾驶这架飞机，”美国空军退役中校斯科特·斯蒂姆珀特（Scott Stimpert）在里根总统基金会的声明中说道。他曾是驾驶这架飞机执行作战任务的飞行员之一。“那是一段激动人心的时光，也是一项至关重要的能力，但却无法与亲朋好友分享。我很高兴这架飞机能够重见天日，重获光明，让那些曾受其保护的人们能够看到并欣赏它。”

据里根总统基金会称，在其服役期间，“不速之客”（Unexpected Guest）是F-117战机中最活跃的一架，共执行了78次战斗任务，超过了所有其他“夜鹰”战机，其中包括参与了1989年该机型在巴拿马的首次实战。您可以在之前的“战区”（War Zone）文章中阅读更多关于“夜鹰”战机的研发和作战历史，以及里根总统对该机型的大力支持。

除非里根总统基金会改变计划，否则“不速之客”展览将于12月7日开始展出。来看看洛克希德公司在为F-117新家做准备期间拍摄的这组精彩照片吧：

联系作者：joe@thedrive.com

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