Stealth Bomber

A B-2 stealth bomber from the 509th Bomber Wing performed a ceremonial flyover Sunday during services for Verne Orr, a former secretary of the U.S. Air Force who died last week at age 92. Lt. Col. Todd Copeland said the B-2 Spirit bomber from Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri flew over the First United Methodist Church on East Colorado Boulevard. Orr was Air Force secretary from 1981 to 85 under Reagan. He restarted the B-1 bomber program and oversaw the inception of the B-2 program.

There may be potential juice in the story of "The Second Meeting," which involves two wartime enemies who later forge a peaceful trans-Atlantic friendship. But writer-producer-director Zeljko Mirkovic's clunker of a documentary demands a full narrative and editorial rethink. In 1999, an American F-117A stealth bomber piloted by Lt. Col. Dale Zelko, was shot down over Serbia by Yugoslav missile officer Zoltan Dani. Zelko parachuted to safety and Dani became a national hero. Twelve years later, family men Zelko and Dani visit each other in their home countries (how this came about goes unexplained)

Hunched over, her eyes fixed downward, Tanya Hart inches across the vast wing of the B-2 stealth bomber one small step at a time, looking for any nicks or hairline scratches in the freshly repainted surface. Even a tiny blemish could make the B-2 as visible on radar screens as a giant flying tin can. Hart, 50, is the last line of defense for what may be the world's most expensive paint job. "This isn't a job where you can afford to mess up," said Hart, a "surface technician" for Northrop Grumman Corp.

Two American stealth bombers flew over South Korea in a practice run to drop dummy munitions, the U.S. military announced Thursday. The unusual announcement is expected to further anger North Korea, which issued threats this month over recently completed U.S.-South Korean military exercises. American forces said the B-2 Spirit bombers were sent Thursday to South Korea from Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri. Their mission “involved flying more than 6,500 miles to the Korean peninsula, dropping inert munitions on the Jik Do Range, and returning to the continental U.S. in a single, continuous mission,” the U.S. Forces Korea said in its statement.

Radar can find the B-2 Stealth bomber (Sept. 12) but the taxpayer can't find the $64.8 billion. DOUGLAS INGOLDSBY Santa Barbara

Two editorials (Nov. 23): The first about the stealth bomber--$500 million ("The Stealth Is No Steal"). The government claims we need 132 of them. The second about the higher education expansion plans ("Handcuffed Higher Education"). We are cautioned that the University of California probably cannot afford a new campus at a cost of $300 million. Where is the third editorial--the one about our misplaced priorities? ANNE BERKOVITZ Los Angeles

The House voted 257 to 160 to keep the Stealth bomber program alive next fiscal year, but on a much leaner budget than President Bush wants and under congressional quality controls seen as excessive by many advocates of the futuristic warplane. The amendment was added to the $305-billion defense authorization bill for fiscal 1990 that later was sent to conference with the Senate.

Cheers to the Pima Air & Space Museum for flying what might be the largest paper airplane ever constructed over the Arizona desert earlier this week. The plane, dubbed Arturo's Desert Eagle, was 45 feet long with a 24-foot wingspan and weighed in at a whopping 800 pounds. It was built as part of the museum's Giant Paper Airplane Project , designed to get kids psyched about aviation and engineering. After a few false starts, the plane was towed into the sky above the Sonoran desert on Wednesday afternoon by a Sikorsky S58T helicopter.

Reporting from Kansas City, Mo. If you listen to Angels catcher Bobby Wilson , there are few experiences in baseball that can match putting on a big league uniform on opening day. "This is the best," he said. "The big American flag in center field. The flyover. The goose bumps when that plane goes over. The first pitch of the season. It's awesome. There's nothing like it. " Thursday's festivities in Kansas City featured a flyover by a B-2 bomber. And for outfielder Peter Bourjos , who had a pair of hits and scored a run, that was the most memorable part of his first major leaguer opener.

Hunched over, her eyes fixed downward, Tanya Hart inches across the vast wing of the B-2 stealth bomber one small step at a time, looking for any nicks or hairline scratches in the freshly repainted surface. Even a tiny blemish could make the B-2 as visible on radar screens as a giant flying tin can. Hart, 50, is the last line of defense for what may be the world's most expensive paint job. "This isn't a job where you can afford to mess up," said Hart, a "surface technician" for Northrop Grumman Corp.

A B-2 stealth bomber from the 509th Bomber Wing performed a ceremonial flyover Sunday during services for Verne Orr, a former secretary of the U.S. Air Force who died last week at age 92. Lt. Col. Todd Copeland said the B-2 Spirit bomber from Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri flew over the First United Methodist Church on East Colorado Boulevard. Orr was Air Force secretary from 1981 to 85 under Reagan. He restarted the B-1 bomber program and oversaw the inception of the B-2 program.

The Air Force was investigating the first crash of a costly B-2 stealth bomber after one plunged to the ground Saturday shortly after beginning the last flight of a four-month deployment. Both pilots ejected safely, though one was being transferred to Tripler Army Medical Center in Honolulu to be treated for spinal compression, said Tech. Sgt. Tom Czerwinski of the Pacific Air Force's public affairs office in Hawaii.

Northrop Grumman Corp. received a $388-million award from the Air Force to update radar systems on the B-2 stealth bomber. Work to replace the bomber's radar and antenna, which will resolve conflicts in radio frequency usage with commercial systems, could be worth more than $900 million through 2011, Century City-based Northrop said. Raytheon Co., which provided the original B-2 radar, is the principal subcontractor to Northrop on the radar upgrade project.

The B-2 stealth bomber, with its boomerang shape and rubber-like skin, is a marvel of high-tech engineering, capable of sneaking undetected across hostile territories. And the special coating that makes the $2.1-billion aircraft nearly invisible to radar is a big maintenance headache: It takes technicians days to gingerly reapply the coating each time a body panel is removed to allow access to the jet's innards.

KNOB NOSTER, Mo. -- The Pentagon is moving the jet that fired the opening salvos of the last two U.S. wars to within easy striking distance of Iraq, erecting tent-like portable hangars for the batwinged B-2 bomber on the Indian Ocean island of Diego Garcia. Four of the new $2.5-million maintenance hangars, each serving two planes, will be built on the British-held isle and one at Fairford, England.