Jack Posted March 26, 2023 Share Posted March 26, 2023 (edited) Both pictures, the "wrinkled" one more than 20 years ago at a dutch airforce base (my "office-tower" is in the background) and the "clean" one last year at the USAF museum in Dayton, but was wondering about the wrinkles, in that it could be because of light reflection, or indeed real fuselage stress on the aircraft, because similar presentations i could't find elsewhere on the net...... Edited March 26, 2023 by Jack Gazzas and Uncarina 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_K2 Posted March 26, 2023 Share Posted March 26, 2023 I strongly suspect they're real. The Squadron/Signal walk around book has several similar photos. Gazzas, Uncarina and Jack 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Posted March 26, 2023 Author Share Posted March 26, 2023 so actually the "museum" nighthawk was spared the wrinkled appearance, go figure...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Ron Posted March 26, 2023 Share Posted March 26, 2023 If I recall correctly, all F-117's donated to museums were paint stripped first. The paint is still a top secrete commodity.... Uilleann, Uncarina, Gazzas and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Posted March 26, 2023 Author Share Posted March 26, 2023 Thanks for the info, and picture, but the present 117 at the museum kind'a lookes like a "old WW2" aircraft skin appearance, just smooth but pale, "wheathred" paint wise, not even chipped, but faded, and i didn't see the wrinkled appearance that should have come from the picture you presented. Anyhow, it appeared to me the same way the B2 is presented at the museum, being a "real" presentation but one that was used in trials without internal build ups like cockpit and such. I like your picture though, thanks... Jack. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Ron Posted March 27, 2023 Share Posted March 27, 2023 I’m pretty sure that pic I posted is ripples from soda blasting the paint off. Uilleann 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thierry laurent Posted March 27, 2023 Share Posted March 27, 2023 8 hours ago, LSP_Ron said: I’m pretty sure that pic I posted is ripples from soda blasting the paint off. Not so sure of that. Look at the darker areas. They are always on the lower edge of each ripple. This is probably a shadow effect of the sun lighting. So, this means there is a bump and/or crease and not only a surface color difference linked to an heterogeneous sandblasting process. Moreover, various pictures of planes in service show such ripples. So, there are few doubts the surface did not stay flat. However, reproducing correctly such an effect is not going to be easy... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thierry laurent Posted March 27, 2023 Share Posted March 27, 2023 I'm wondering why that paint is still so secret since one crashed in Serbia years ago and at least the Russians had every opportunity to study each square centimeter of the wreck...?!? Alex 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dennismcc Posted March 27, 2023 Share Posted March 27, 2023 3 minutes ago, thierry laurent said: I'm wondering why that paint is still so secret since one crashed in Serbia years ago and at least the Russians had every opportunity to study each square centimeter of the wreck...?!? So you can't use it on your car to avoid speed cameras. Cheers Dennis Lee White, Gazzas, Uilleann and 4 others 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christa Posted March 28, 2023 Share Posted March 28, 2023 Ooh - a stealth Jaguar! Jack and dennismcc 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony T Posted March 31, 2023 Share Posted March 31, 2023 On 3/27/2023 at 9:37 AM, thierry laurent said: I'm wondering why that paint is still so secret since one crashed in Serbia years ago and at least the Russians had every opportunity to study each square centimeter of the wreck...?!? I heard that the "wallpaper" RAM was actually made of hazardous particles which behave a bit like asbestos. Tony thierry laurent and Uilleann 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Palm-tree Posted March 31, 2023 Share Posted March 31, 2023 On 3/27/2023 at 9:37 AM, thierry laurent said: I'm wondering why that paint is still so secret since one crashed in Serbia years ago and at least the Russians had every opportunity to study each square centimeter of the wreck...?!? It might not be coated in "paint" . Uilleann 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jesus Dapena Posted April 16, 2023 Share Posted April 16, 2023 It gives the impression that it has been encased in a protective tarp that clings to the underlying metal less tightly in some areas than in others??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thierry laurent Posted April 30, 2023 Share Posted April 30, 2023 I found the answer about the RAM in the Haynes manual dedicated to the F-117. By the way this is probably the best book about that airframe. Paul Crickmore is probably the top writer when it goes to black planes. I'm quite happy I finally found one as it looks to be unfortunately OOP. There is a dedicated section about the RAM. Initially they were using 8x2 ft BX210 glued tiles of RAM. Such tiles started to be developed far earlier as similar ones were already used on some areas of the SR-71 family airframes. However, this was a maintenance nightmare on a full plane as the glue reacted badly with the leaking liquids! So, another solution had to be found and an engineer finally succeeded in developing a liquid substitute that could be sprayed (BX241). Then BX199 was developed to allow robot-controlled painting (from 1985) in order to get different thicknesses where required. They also had a butter-like RAM product used to cover seams and screw heads after maintenance work. It was not uncommon to see different types of RAM on some airframes. Finally, they even launched a specific program to add a new RAM coating on them (from 1998). It is interesting to know that in spite they discovered light grey was more efficient at night they went on using black colored RAM because General Creech (CINCTAC at that time) insisted! Hth Thierry Uilleann 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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