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Check Six: June 18, 1981 – 35 years ago

June 18, 2016
From the This Day in Aviation website
A U.S. Air Force F-117A 'Nighthawk' Stealth Fighter aircraft flies over Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., during the joint service experimentation process dubbed Millennium Challenge 2002. Sponsored by the US Joint Forces Command, the Millenniun Challenge 2002 experiment explores how Effects Based Operations can provide an integrated joint context for conducting rapid, decisive operations. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Aaron Allmon II) (Released)

click on photograph to enlarge

At 6:05 a.m., Pacific Daylight Time (1305 UTC), the first Full Scale Development Lockheed YF-117A Nighthawk, 79-10780, made its first flight at Groom Lake, Nevada with Skunk Works test pilot Harold “Hal” Farley, Jr. at the controls. The super-secret airplane was made of materials that absorbed radar waves, and built with the surfaces angled so that radar signals are deflected away from the source.

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