Stealth Fighter Airplane

They were born shrouded in mystery in a windowless building in Burbank. They flew combat missions over Serbia and Iraq virtually invisible to enemy radar. And today, the black, bat-like F-117A Night Hawks will fly quietly into the night as stealthily as they came. The last four of the world's first stealth fighters will make their final flights from Palmdale to a secret desert base in Nevada, where they will be locked up indefinitely in a secure concrete hangar.

The F-117A fighter jet, the radar-eluding plane known for its angular design and charcoal color, may be getting a makeover in gray. The U.S. Air Force has painted one of its stealth fighters at Holloman Air Force Base in Albuquerque to see if the plane called the Nighthawk might be harder to spot when it flies during daylight hours in a color other than black.

Shutters clicked and the crowd surged forward to get a better look at the Stealth F-117 fighter jet displayed in all its black, bat-winged glory on the runway of the U.S. Air Force base here. "Wow," exclaimed a young South Korean airman as he caught his first glimpse of the famed fighter. No doubt about it, the Stealth bomber, with angles as sharp as a Cubist painting, is designed to impress and, some might say, intimidate.

A United Airlines passenger plane was forced to avoid an Air Force stealth fighter shortly after takeoff from Los Angeles on Thursday. The Boeing 757, bound for Boston, was climbing to cruising altitude and was at 10,800 feet when the pilot told officials that he was in a direct path with a "stealth-type military aircraft," said Jerry Snyder, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration.

An Air Force F-117A stealth fighter that was performing for crowds at an air show in a Baltimore suburb crashed Sunday into two houses on a Chesapeake Bay marina, injuring six people on the ground. Pentagon spokesman Ken Bacon said the F-117A's pilot, later identified as Capt. Bryan Knight, ejected safely and was treated for minor injuries at the scene of the crash near the Glenn Martin State Airport in Middle River, Md.

At a loss to explain the spectacular air show crash Sunday of an F-117A in a Baltimore suburb, the Air Force on Monday grounded its fleet of stealth jet fighters until investigators can provide some clues about what went wrong. Military officials said the probe was focusing on the aircraft's left wing, parts of which broke away moments before the plane plummeted to the ground. "This is one we've certainly never seen before," said Brig. Gen. Dennis R.

A $42-million Stealth fighter lost a wing during an air show and crashed in a neighborhood Sept. 14 because maintenance workers failed to install four bolts, the Air Force said Friday. An investigation found that only one of five 1-inch fasteners that help keep the wing in place was put on back in January 1996 while the F-117A was undergoing repairs.

The Defense Department is expected to announce today that it has awarded a seven-year, $2-billion contract to Lockheed Martin's Skunk Works for maintenance of the F-117 Stealth fighter. The Palmdale division, which created the warplane, will be responsible for "logistics support, sustainment engineering, material management, technical data and depot repair," according to an award notification issued by the Air Force.

U.S. forces staged a stunning rescue of a downed American pilot early today, six hours after his F-117A Stealth fighter crashed during NATO airstrikes over Yugoslavia, the Pentagon said. "I am happy to report the pilot has been rescued and is safe at an allied base," Defense Department spokesman Kenneth H. Bacon said at the Pentagon. "He and the combat search-and-rescue team that picked him up are all safe."

All last week, President Clinton took pains to warn Americans that his decision to intervene in the Kosovo conflict could send some U.S. pilots to their deaths. "This action is not risk-free," Clinton said Wednesday as U.S. and allied forces launched their first airstrikes against Yugoslavia. "However, I have concluded that the dangers of acting now are clearly outweighed by the risks of failing to act."