gray painted F-117

Today I spotted an F-117 that was painted a battleship gray color instead of the usual black. It was being chased by a T-38, possibly doing a photo shoot.

Where I live in NM, Stealths are seen quite often and this was the first one that I've seen in any color other than black.

Well, they're painted flat black, which often looks grey. But I suppose it's possible they're trying a new colour. I'd say it's unlikely, though, because it only really does night operations in the first place, and black would obviously be the best colour choice.

I see them every day and at first thought it was a specular reflection, but it was at about 1000 ft AGL and I got a very good look at it. That is why I was so surprised to see one in a different color.

It could be colored purple and you probably still couldn't see it at night because it is dark.

Another distinct probability is that the aircraft is a trainer plane. Not like they should be expecting to be chased in one of our most advanced jets but the concepts still should be taught to evade and protect that expensive piece of equipment.

I think that may be the case, since it was during the day and it was being chased by another aircraft. It is a single seat plane and the instructor was probably in the T-38.

Also the fact that I think the normal black paint has radar absorbing material in it and more expensive than 'regular' paint - a cost saving measure perhaps.

The first Have Blue articles sported a desert camo paint, as did I beleive the first aircraft in sqaudron service were also painted in this scheme. I recall reading somewhere that a general somewhere insisted on a black sceme even though that is not an optimal night color.

Sometimes they are just out to test new 'flavors'... The Raptor has changed a few times and the YF-23 came in 2 flavors.

Actually, a very dark grey is better than black at night. Else the black looks like one big blob.

I have read here 6-9 months ago that ALL F-117 planes became grey paint instead of black. So I think black F-117s are no more.

[edit on 2-2-2005 by longbow]

It doesn't have to be a trick of the light or anything like that, you could well have seen a grey painted F-117 as this picture shows;

The gray picture looks like the one I saw. By the way, there still are black stealths, the haven't painted all of them yet.

I recently saw a show on the discovery channel about the F-117. One of the designers said they painted the plane black because it would fly primarily at night, however black is not the best choice for night flying either.

But he said "Real men don't fly pretty pastel airplanes"

Originally posted by Starwars51
I recently saw a show on the discovery channel about the F-117. One of the designers said they painted the plane black because it would fly primarily at night, however black is not the best choice for night flying either.

But he said "Real men don't fly pretty pastel airplanes"

Why wouldn't black be the best choice for night flying?

I recall reading somewhere that a general somewhere insisted on a black sceme even though that is not an optimal night color.

Yep, I think they said pink was actually the best color, hehe, and the general said real men wouldn't be flying around in pretty pink planes, hehe...

Why wouldn't black be the best choice for night flying?

The human eye isn't a perfect visual processor. Apparently the studies showed otherwise...as far as black being best.

Even the paint though is part of the stealth system. What you're likely seeing is just the plane primed. They did this a lot with the blackbird and the U-2 also. You'd be amazed at the amount of touchup needed after each test or mission to maintain optimum levels of stealth. Even the primer has stealth characteristics of absorbtion. I'm not sure on this, but I seem to recall, even as far back as the U-2, of fairly regular stripping, repriming, and then repainting of the planes, to ensure maximum stealth ratings.

I'm kickin' myself right now cuz I can't remember the source I heard this from. Anywho, I heard somewhere within the last week or so that they are planning on painting most if not all F-117s gray so that they can be used during the day as well as night.

The pic I posted doesn't show an F-117 in primer, its at readiness in the hangar.

I think the photo in the post higher up may show either a newly built or newly stripped example though as there seems to be a lot more panel detail visible than you would expect on a painted aircraft.

this isn't the same source but it has some past information on the planned paint change.

www.murdoconline.net...

Originally posted by XB70
Why wouldn't black be the best choice for night flying?

Because the sky is rarely/never purely black. It is almost always either cloud filled (giving a blue/gray tone) or filled with stars.

Originally posted by Starwars51

Originally posted by XB70
Why wouldn't black be the best choice for night flying?

Because the sky is rarely/never purely black. It is almost always either cloud filled (giving a blue/gray tone) or filled with stars.

So would an extremely dark blue-grey colour be better?

Cough.

Look up my post earlier.

Ninja's figured it out years ago that a dark grey was best.