Path: utzoo!utgpu!watserv1!watmath!att!cbnews!military
From: gwh%monsoon.Berkeley.EDU@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU (George William Herbert)
Newsgroups: sci.military
Subject: Re: F-19 vs. F-117
Summary: Background speculation...
Message-ID: <1990Jul23.203018.7235@cbnews.att.com>
Date: 23 Jul 90 20:30:18 GMT
References: <1990Jul18.040928.14461@cbnews.att.com>
Sender: military@cbnews.att.com (William B. Thacker)
Organization: The OCF Gang: Making Tomorrows Mistakes Today
Lines: 37
Approved: military@att.att.com



From: gwh%monsoon.Berkeley.EDU@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU (George William Herbert)

In article <1990Jul18.040928.14461@cbnews.att.com> geraldp@mentor.com (Gerald Page) writes:
>I've heard a lot about the F-117 being the first "stealth fighter", but 
>not much at all about the F-19.  I've read several military-type novels 
>about it, including Tom Clancy's "Red Storm Rising", but haven't seen 
>anything about it in the news or on this newsgroup.  Clancy refers to it 
>as the "Frisbee", supposedly due to it's terrain following flying 
>characterstics.  The novels I've read usually place it in a low altitude 
>bombing/attack role.  Does anybody have any facts about the F-19?

The "F-19" is, as suggested by where you found references, fiction.  Sorry 8-)

As a side note, I've been poring over the Aerofax booklet on the F-117...some
very neat things in it.  For instance, the 'Have Blue' program was the
development program for the stealth fighters. After some initial jostling,
Lockheed and Boeing were given contracts to build 2/3 scale prototypes.  
Lockheed made 3 planes (2 flight, one ground test), Boeing 2 (note, _I've_
never seen hide nor hair of one
of the Boeing Have Blue planes...speculation as to what they looked like is
an interesting topic.)  These prototypes flew first in 1977.  Both of Lockheeds
were lost to accidents; the first prototype nearly killed Bill Parks (of 
Lockheed) in an ejection seat failure following some landing gear problems.
The second burned in a fire caused (on the ground) by hydraulic problems.  Both
these accidents were in 1978.  However, before that occured, operational tests
had verified the basic concept.  In 1978 the Air Force initiated the Senior
Trend program, to develop the full scale plane from Lockheed's prototype. In
1981, the plane first flew.  


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