Wing at Palmdale..?

just noticed this at Palmdale...sorry if it's been posted before but is it the wing off something or a UAV...??

Rq170?

Can you tell me what I am meant to be looking at?

originally posted by: Blackfinger
Rq170?

The wing tips look different.

I thought that's what it looked like..just could not see any intakes etc on it (unless it's been wrapped up for transit or protection) pic off google earth so don't know how long ago it was taken.a reply to: Blackfinger

The wing shape in the middle of the picture..?!?
a reply to: angryhulk

a reply to: Silentvulcan

It does look like it is shrink wrapped.

Yeah...probably just a packing case for some wing assembly left at the back of the plant..keeps us nerds on our toes though!! a reply to: butcherguy

Very cool find!
Usually at the bottom of the page google identifies what yr the pic was taken, the paid version of GE provides a little more info. (I've heard)

originally posted by: Silentvulcan
The wing shape in the middle of the picture..?!?
a reply to: angryhulk

I thought that was a building?

a reply to: angryhulk

Here is another pic of the area it's in...not far from main Skunk Works hanger.

I think this has been covered before. I believe it was determined that it's a shrink wrapped rq170

a reply to: Silentvulcan

It's an RQ-170 that was either shipped back or was being shipped out of Palmdale.

Yep...looked back over some previous posts and it showed up on some of them..but was in a different part of the plant then.a reply to: BASSPLYR

It was the shape of the wing tips and trailing edges that looked different...but if it's in a bag/transit crate it would look different as the crate would be a bit bigger!!!

I did think it might of been something to do with the rcs model of the Horton 229 that was built at the plant a few years ago...but again the trailing edges and wing tips are not correct...!!a reply to: Zaphod58

Good eye. Yes it was mentioned before. The image on Google maps is more than 4 years old. I mentioned it to Zaphod early on in my joining ATS. 😊

To add. Go to china, city of Chengdu. Look at the air field at the 10 o'clock position of the city. You will see some J-20's un-painted and thier drones as well.
After that. Look at Beale airforce base in Yuba city California. 👍



One location that has changed images is Djibouti international airport. From time to time you will catch your drone there. 😉


2 more.

en.m.wikipedia.org...

And

en.m.wikipedia.org...

Shrink wrapped RCS model of a RQ-170...

This is the shrink wrapped Polecat JIG. This link should take you to a picture of the JIG. www.lockheedmartin.com...

a reply to: Empire101

That is an excellent estimate, however, the jig in the image you linked to does not have identical geometry. The aerial image of Plant 42 shows the "wingtips" of the jig approximately 90 deg from the "wing leading edge". The jig on the Lockheed link for Polecat shows the "wing tips" not at 90 deg from the leading edges, but rather parallel to the centerline.

I do think you are onto something, and perhaps it's a transport case for the Polecat center body. Note the outer wing panel break lines on your Lockheed link, just below the jig image, appears to be a better match. However, the boattail on the Polecat comes to a point, unlike the image of the object at Plant 42.

IDK, perhaps it's a jig or transport case for something similar to a twin engine Project 170.