Musings about the F-117 companion

I was talking to my old man (he was a nav on C-130s with RCAF in the Gulf War) about this last night, and he told me when he was in Bahrain there were stories of a "something" that supposedly wasn't the 117.

These were also guys in their mid-20's drinking at a 5 star hotel almost 30 years ago, but who knows?

Possibly the December ‘91 issue? No actual pics, just artist renderings
books.google.de...=onepage&q&f=false

reply to: mightmight

a reply to: raptor28

No. Actual photo. While an airframe similar to that may or may not have flown.. that isn't it.

I don't recall if it was Popular Science or Popular Mechanics.

I have noticed- the online resources often only show the covers and articles- not ads, pictures which weren't part of an ad, etc. Hence my suggestion for perusing ebay..

I don't recall if it was on the cover or part of an article..but I don't think it was. Just a photo and a caption..

Allegedly a Czech military infographic featuring the companion - website looks super sketch, but interesting...


1.bp.blogspot.com...

a reply to: TheHans

Except the TR-3A isn't a real aircraft. TR is a non- standard designation that was used for less than 10 years for the TR-1A/B. The TR-1 was a U-2R that was modified with underwing super pods to upgrade the onboard reconnaissance equipment. The TR-1B was a two seat trainer version. The first of 33 TR-1s was delivered in 1983, and by 1992 they were redesignated U-2Rs and the TR designation was no longer used.

Maybe they got the name wrong and were confused by the whole TIER 3 thing? That’s if it’s even genuine. Maybe it should say something more like EF-116, RF-119, RF-19 or EF-117B. The picture looks interesting though, kind of THAP-esque.

originally posted by: Zaphod58
a reply to: TheHans

Except the TR-3A isn't a real aircraft. TR is a non- standard designation that was used for less than 10 years for the TR-1A/B. The TR-1 was a U-2R that was modified with underwing super pods to upgrade the onboard reconnaissance equipment. The TR-1B was a two seat trainer version. The first of 33 TR-1s was delivered in 1983, and by 1992 they were redesignated U-2Rs and the TR designation was no longer used.

Gosh its like trying to find the lost Thunderbird pic..

a reply to: TheHans
Its not a triangle, flying wing or whatever.
And its also not designated TR anything either.
Allegedly.

a reply to: mightmight
Is it Green?

a reply to: Blackfinger
nah its probably painted black

originally posted by: CrownCartwheelCreed
a reply to: raptor28

No. Actual photo. While an airframe similar to that may or may not have flown.. that isn't it.

...

I don't recall if it was on the cover or part of an article..but I don't think it was. Just a photo and a caption..

originally posted by: CrownCartwheelCreed
a reply to: mightmight

Or..the much more plausible looking Testors version. Which has a somewhat similar appearance from the front. Less dihedral, though...

---

Also..if anyone REALLY wants to see a pic... old Popular Mechanics/Popular Science mags are available on eBay...right?

A question to you, CrownCartwheelCreed.
Am I right claiming that you have seen that photo in the magazine? You said "Just a photo and a caption", do you remember what caption was?

Any other details you would tell?

Cheers!

a reply to: SpeedFanatic

I saw the pic. I had picked up the magazine at the grocery store as a teenager and skimmed it while waiting for my mom to finish shopping.

Had never heard of the companion back then- and don't claim that the photo was/is the companion.

I wish I had bought/saved it but had no idea I would be having this conversation now. ;-)

My (admittedly) foggy recollection matches the descriptions elsewhere in this forum- at dusk, Middle Eastern base.

Not super clear..or super fuzzy photo.

Black or (possibly dark grey.

I don't recall a story and believe it was just one pic in the middle of the mag and the caption was something like "Is this the next generation reconnaissance aircraft" and mentioned a location in the Middle East which wasn't Iraq . (Saudi,
Bahrain, Qatar)

I forget which.

I do believe it was Pop Sci or Pop Mechanics (used to look at both regularly) but don't recall which one.

I had forgotten about all this until I read this thread some time ago.

A few things that pop into my mind- I think I saw the pic in the mid 90s..
well after GW1.

Knowing that memories are often blurry and can be distorted by time- my recollection is something between the aforementioned model and Kingfish.

IE- black, twin engine, twin tails, smaller, more angular than the Blackbird (which was the only recon aircraft I had heard of as a teenager and popped into my head while reading)

I will have to peruse the old magazines at thrift stores..maybe I will get lucky? :-)

a reply to: CrownCartwheelCreed

Was the caption of the picture or the title point to the pic(s) being taken during GW1 or was it just a photo which wasn't related in any way to GW1? How would you describe a shape, more like teardrop or maybe something else?

"They" may be able to scrub parts of google books or whatever to remove the offending picture from the internet, but it's impossible to put the genie back into the bottle when it comes to physically existing hard copies of issues which are now scattered across attics, living rooms, and libraries all over the country / planet.

In the obsessive online fora of black project / aircraft enthusiasts, where the same images / sources are referenced repeatedly, down to obscure DOD research papers being repeatedly posted because in figure 43b on page 165/300 there is a single wireframe rendering of a hypersonic aircraft, I find it hard to believe that there could be an existing actual undiscovered photo of something like the companion just sitting there in the back catalog of popular mechanics.

Two people already posted unrelated pop mech / pop sci articles ITT because these are the handful of such issues which have been scoured to death over the years.

a reply to: wirehead
Unfortunately pretty much yeah. Odd thing though, the rumor has come up before. Shouldnt be that hard for someone in the US to check it out. I'm dont plan to buy a decades worth of dusty magazines and have them shipped over because of this.

a reply to: SpeedFanatic

I don't recall. I posted the extent of my memories.

As far as platform- the pic was offset from the front and I could not tell.

At the time I thought- that's kind of cool..but doesn't look as cool as the SR-71..then put it out of my head. I saw it that one time..and forgot about it until recently when I someone mentioned the same pic.

There's also thr possibility it was Kingfish/a successor/ or something else.

I agree with Wirehead- am surprised a photo hasn't popped up. Then again- I don't recall it being on the cover, or the subject of an article and perhaps people just glossed over it.

On that subject- I just looked a little bit- Pop Sci/ Pop Mechanics archives have some cool pics I haven't seen on here- B.O.P., concept art which resembles speedagile, etc... :-)

a reply to: CrownCartwheelCreed

Something unrelated to the pic.

CrownCartwheelCreed, it is your post from another thread about Companion:

originally posted by: CrownCartwheelCreed
a reply to: spaceman42

Anyone have any info (or conjecture) on the "missing" F-117/YF-117 suffixes? Between the Nighthawk variants and the Boeing B.O.P.? Or after it? I've seen the theory that the "E" was an undisclosed stealth aircraft..but no proof or even details to the theory..

Very interesting to say the least. Never heard that theory before. Care to tell more about it?

a reply to: SpeedFanatic

I have read that several places..including on the site linked below.

I should make it clear that I have zero knowledge of SAP programs other than perusing theories on ATS and other open source platforms..

www.designation-systems.net...

What is this plane? Before you say Have Blue, notice that the back looks pretty wrong. Maybe it’s just a photoshop.

ibb.co...

a reply to: TheHans

Fake.