Skunk Works Mysteries Revealed | Top-Secret Stealth Program Interview | Hal Farley, F-117 Test Pilot
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- Опубліковано 1 жов 2022
- F-117a Nighthawk First Flight Chief Test Pilot Hal Farley history documentary & Air force high tech stealth engineering aviation technology story. Hal explains the history of Skunk Works and tells of his involvement with the program. This information has been declassified under the "Freedom of Information Act".
About Hal Farley:
Hal Farley, Director Flight Operations and Chief Test Pilot, Lockheed Martin's Skunk Works (Retired).
Farley joined the Skunk Works as Project Pilot for the Top Secret Stealth Fighter Program. He flew the first flight and logged over 600 hours in the F-117A.
He served in the Navy from 1959 to 1967 and Grumman Aircraft from 1967 to 1979. He was assigned to VA-164 flying A-4 aircraft aboard the USS Oriskany. Farley attended the Navy Test Pilot School and was assigned to Carrier Suitability performing tests on the F-4, F-8, A-4, A-6, and RA-5C. He then joined Grumman, testing the A-6 and F-14 Tomcat accumulating over 900 hours in the Tomcat.
He is a Fellow in the Society of Experimental Test Pilots. He has 30 years of flying experience. 5700 hours, 3600 of which were flight tests in fighter or attack aircraft. He is the recipient of the Ivan C Kincheloe award and the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Octave Chanute Award both for work on the F-117A.
He was inducted into the Oklahoma Aviation and Space Hall of Fame.
In 2002 he and his wife Ellen completed an 8-year voyage around the world in their 44ft sailboat AIRBORNE.
To purchase a Hal Farley autograph and photo: amzn.to/33QCjR5
This video is published courtesy of John Farr, the Producer & Director of
Creative Media Group
Website: Https://www.creativemediagroup.com
Contact: john@creativemediagroup.com
#f117 #nighthawk #skunkworks - Наука та технологія
Click the link to watch more aircraft, heroes and their stories, missions: www.youtube.com/@Dronescapes
U 90dgrs! Aa!aaaaaà
Thanks DroneScapes.
DID U SEE THE REAL UFOS IN THIS VIDEO U UPLOADED ON HERE ....TAKE A LOOK AT 1:10:57 ONWARDS FOR A COUPLE SECONDS
Thanks. The second video in this upload is really interesting. 👍
Very interesting video.
I really appreciate the info in the description, but you need to tell us what the date of the interview was.
My Dad was Grumman's head of Product Training for the F-14 in the '70's. One of his favorite stories he'd tell us was Chuck Yeager's test flight in the X-29. Hal probably knew him. He passed away last year.
My father ran Grummans Flight Test from 1941-1964. Hal and Corky worked for him. Later, following Apollo, Dad became the F-14 Project Manager. I met Corky on several occasions growing up. Mostly at Grummans annual pick-nicks. He became instrumental to my becoming a pilot. By the time Hal went to work for my father, indirectly, I had gone into the Air Force, unfortunately we never met. I became an F4E Pilot.
As a desk manager just outside an AFB in Texas, we were honored to host several of the SR-71 pilots, great bunch of guys, fabulous plane.
What an experience Gary, I envy you. The Blackbird is a trues work of art
This man was undoubtedly a genius of our times, tough to think of another person in any industry with such vision and technical knowhow.... But what really sets him apart is the insanity of the delivery times - a new tech aircraft in 6 months? It's bonkers to think about if you've ever been involved in design... Complex designs, let alone cutting edge, take enormous amounts of time and he somehow got these out in less than a year. Amazing.
The F117 is still to this day easily the coolest looking airplane I’ve ever seen in my life.
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The Lamborghini of aircraft. Looks cool as fuck but extremely impractical when necessary physics are concerned.
@@Dronescapes I suppose the runtime for this 'compilation video' is too long for some audiences. I enjoyed it, immensely! Thank you for the work done...🇺🇸 😎👍☕
@@lilblackduc7312 :)
Too true. I love the F-117. Special bird.
Kelly was one in a billion. The kind of man that made his nation the greatest on earth.
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I was very proud to have been assigned to the F-117s and the 37 TFW Nighthawks at Tonopah Test Range ( TTR). It was quite a honor as a young airman to be hand selected out of SAC and taken to Las Vegas. The struggle on family as a young husband was real. It probable cost me my marriage but looking back, it was a sacrifice well worth it to advance my part in stealth technology. We really did “ own the night”!
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Did you kiss the goats ass???
@Kinch Thank you very much for your service 💞✌️
if you don’t mind me asking , what’s SAC?
@@ryanm.8596 Strategic Air Command! It was one of the three nuclear assets in the old nuclear triad. Cold war air command.
I love how he shared those 3 first flights between the 117, 22 and 35. That's a real Chief and leader.
He was! Amazing person
This man is exactly why individuals matter. There aren't too many of these guys out there with the civilian, military & corporate background, work ethic and maybe the most important quality of all, temperament, that can do highly specialized jobs like this.
You are absolutely right, Thank you!
shockingly humble as well!
Now we got Diversity™ hires and aircraft literally falling apart in the sky.
We're moving backwards.
The Skunk Works program typically gets credit for changing history long after they actually change history. The Skunk Works has won 6 Collier Trophies.
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Oyó oóóoýóo9
True!
I love history & love to learn something new everyday if possible,...Question for today is
What is the (collier trophie) ??
Never heard of it...Thank you so much!!
@@mariatorres5563 The Collier Trophy is the highest award in aviation.
I work for Raytheon but I have worked on 3 projects with lockeed. It has been the highlight of my career. Defending our nation with blue collar determination. 🇺🇲
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how does one get the job?
@Ryan M. i had 15 years experience with industrial painting, and then I spent a year applying for the job on the official web site. I had an excellent resume and references. They finally contacted me then I went through a year of background and clearance process. Then i finally started. Been loving it ever since
@@augustasmccray4540is that sort of background check necessary really for what you worked on? Not being snarky. Genuinely curious.
@radiofreealbemuth8540 yes.
This is the absolute best video that I've ever seen on the "Skunk Works".
Thank you
A pleasure to be a part of this great conglomerate and to carry out this legacy.
This simply has to be the best comprehensive look at the evolution of an indivual who conquered many aeronautical hurdles, with amazing talented induviduals by his side. thank you for producing this documentry...again thank you!
I really enjoyed listening to this guy. The background info, the history and technical information delivered in an "on the scene" understanding. Appreciate the advice on honesty 👌
Glad you enjoyed it!
What a great man. The speed and accuracy of his work was remarkable.
Absolutely brilliant doco about a man, his visions and his abilities, which have been proven over time to exceed everything that was around before, and in some cases, still today.
Well done Kelly Johnson - a true legend amongst visionaries and aeronautical engineers alike.
If that Man was in his prime at the present,the flying craft he'd be building with knew materials scientific breakthroughs in AI embedded into systems and pilot helmets,fly by wire, commuter real time flight correction for stability like Cunard's,might even have got into gravity propulsion,oh yah we've had that since the 50's 👽
Great video! I worked on the flight simulator for the F-117 at Link and it was just as described. There were customers and Lockheed. Funny thing was, the customer people were the same people that worked on the B-52 simulator, so many people in the building knew who they were. But there was never any discussion with them because they were just “the customer”. Spent some time flying the simulator during change of shift between 2nd and 3rd shift
Very cool!
😂 bot farm
Growing up in Burbank California, I was lucky enough to see many great things back the 60's-70's, my uncle Jo was a machinist for this man, and was a proud Italian building the best he could.
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I. Would like to thank everyone of you for your service to this country men like you and women are the reason I’m proud to be an American. God bless you your family and may the happiness follow you wherever you go. Thank you for your service to our country.
I don't care if its old or "obsolete" the F-117 will always be a beloved favorite, just like the SR-71.
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So, THAT is what my Dad was wanting to see. In 1979, approximately, maybe early eighties, we drove from Las Vegas to Palm Springs area, and out there, he made me drive while he did the strangest thing. He sat back, put sunglasses on and stared straight up. I was like, okay, Dad's getting weird, but I was busy driving. He was also always making paper airplanes with us kids, and they weren't like anybody else's paper airplanes, lol. They'd have flaps and ailerons and were weighted precisely and came in different styles which he would identify. He was a pilot, obviously. If, in the seventies, if you were hit by a paper airplane that appeared to be very well made, I'd like to apologize for that.
🤣🤣🤣 bro my dad did the same thing! He was an f4 pilot in Vietnam in the last year and half of it, before the war a flight instructor, in the mid 80s he transitioned from the f4 to the f15. I think it was around 1993 he retired from the air force and went to work at Lockheed missile and fire control and put his aerospace engineering degree to good use finally.
The planes he would make were freaking great dude, it cracked me up so much reading that your dad was the same
My grandfather was an air force pilot then a pilot for u.s. customs and he taught me how to make paper planes too and we were always putting together plane models. I miss him so much
@@sweatsucks7719 I know what that feels like.
My dad did the same thing with the paper airplanes...he would use 📎 🖇 and nickels to balance it....smooth as 🧈
I used to race RC cars and I want to get into RC airplanes
My father worked for the Skunk Works for 20 years. He was debriefed by the FBi when he left. He wouldn't even tell me his son what my father worked on there.
get him drunk and ask him actually get him drunk as a skunk ha ha get it ? lol
My friend worked there in the 90's. I learned early on to stop asking what he worked on there because he's never talked about it.
I knew about the 117 in '88, and I was 11 years old. I lived right outside the fence at Nellis, and my father drove a bus at the TTR. I would get a call to keep my eyes open anytime the 117s would take off and fly south.
Ben Rich wrote a "tell all" appropriately titled "Skunk works." A fascinating read.
I read Have Blue, Is it the same book?
@@steventhang3627 Don't think so. Who was the author? Ben was Kelly Johnson's successor.
That book was amazing. I need to read it again. So interesting.
If you want to feel inferior, read Kelly Johnsons biography/wiki. Won his first airplane design contest at 13. Went from a tool designer @ Lockheed for $83/mo to Chief research engineer in 5 years. This is such a good video.
Did you watch this biography? ua-cam.com/video/k9-m5tCT0zY/v-deo.html
You should check out the book "Skunk Works". Not sure if it was Kelly Johnson's memoir or Ben Rich but it was an amazing read with a plethora of information regarding the group and the planes.
A great man. Combined vision with getting-it-done-fast.
Skunk Works by Ben Rich is a fantastic book.
He is a spy
The SR-71....the sexiest aircraft to ever grace our skies...EVER...such a beautifully designed and sculpted aircraft, the lines, her overall shape and the exotics of the materials used within her construction...the plethora of records she broke and has long since held...are a true testament to Kelly Johnson and the entire team at the Skunkworks...an aircraft far ahead of her time...and unlikely to be surpassed for a very long time in my opinion!!!!
Don't know about that. So much money and secrecy and for what...10 years of actual operational use?
The old Soviet era Serbian anti-aircraft system shut everything down in 1999.
The fact that everyone is openly speaking about skunkworks, it only means that is no longer classified. Meaning there's something new that's highly classified, what's next Flying Saucers.
I worked at Burbank Airport in the 80s, it was always a treat to see the C5 come in and out.
I love 20 mins from Memphis TN national guard air they have a couple c17 globe masters my fav cargo plane and couple c5s beautiful as well
I couldn't stop this once I started it. Thanks !
You are very welcome Phil. Thanks for taking the time to comment
I saw three, possibly more F-117’s flying over my neighborhood in the last month. They are amazing
Just watched the first half hour so far and it's very interesting to watch such a unique interview, it's fairly rare people involved with these secret programs do any interviews. Thanks DroneScapes, very cool!
❤🙏 Thank you Greg
@@Dronescapes I really appreciate you taking the time to reply, loved the rest of the video btw, great content, I've subbed and pressed the bell.🤩😁
I agree. great interview with Hal!
@@pokesteez Thank you!
@@TheGreg6466 propaganda for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
I grew up in the high desert of California. There was a short blip of a late night TV news report of a crashed air force airplane out in the desert with no other info provided. It wasn't until many years later that the story of the Have Blue test aircraft and F-117 was released. It was interesting remembering that minor story and realizing it was the Have Blue.
During Desert Storm, just before the ground war kicked off, I was tasked to Fly my Squadron CO and some others to a Meeting in Riyadh Saudi Arabia. After the meeting, at around 9:30 pm and total darkness, I hovered out to the Sod and did my hover power check and was about to call for clearance. The Tower told me to hold short, and wait for taxiing aircraft to depart. My goggles were up and there was enough ambient light at the base to see all around me. Suddenly 4 of these F-117s taxied right past me...just 50 feet away. Seeing these things in real life was surreal...they looked like spaceships. Everyone on board was silent and taking it all in. After they launched, I was cleared for takeoff as well but 90 degrees away from the departing fighters. Turns out they were going to Baghdad to drop these massive laser guided bombs on different strategic targets. My question regarding the F-117...why are they being mothballed whole our B-52s are now turning 65 years old? Our F-15s are now over 35 years old. Something tells me they aren't very durable.
"why are they being mothballed whole our B-52s are now turning 65 years old? "
Because the F-117 is outdated and obsolete. I mean... it still outclasses anything else than any other country has. But it's outdated by American standards.
The US now has the F-35, the F-22, the B-2 and, soon, the B-21. All of which are newer and perform better than the late '70s era F-117.
The US still has a need for the B-52s, but the F-117s have already had a replacement flying for a while.
Apparently, though, a small number of them are still used for training American pilots in OpFor exercises.
They were based in Khamis Mushayt, Saudi Arabia in Oct 91 and were there until late 92, I was based there and used to watch them taxi to EOR and take off every night while they were there.
I would like the F-117 to be resurrected and make/add the modern features to be in competitive use with the USAF & USN.
The F-117 was never really meant to be a long term bomber. It was a black budget parts bin special that worked but wasn't really ideal for it's mission parameters once the cat was out of the bag so to speak.
The f-35 is much more capable at performing the mission set of F-117, and with b-21 coming online it's just a legacy aircraft that is categorically worse than the fleet at penetration of air defenses.
As for B-52, the mission set of carry and drop a fuck ton of hate on the bad guys when we have control over an air space hasn't really changed much and it's a relatively cheap answer to that mission set.
One hour flying is 8 hours maintenance
Such a great edit and amazing story. The F-117 was such a mind blowing thing when I was a kid, always loved this plane.
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It is amazing watching the footage from the 50s and 60s where you have a super advanced SR71 being followed by a 1960s low tech pickup truck. It took decades for car manufacturers to catch up. I can only imagine what Skunk Works is working on today. Carry on gentlemen. Great work. 👍
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I think we will have to wait at least a 100 years more before commercial cars are at the level of an SR71, if ever 😂 It would be cool to have a stealth supersonic pickup truck though!
Exactly - they were working on the SR-71 in the late 50s and early 60s... I shudder to think what the "top-secret" programs are working on now. hmm....
did car makers catch up ? the car named the VOLT in my opinion suggests they are going the way of JCP or Montgomery Wards
@@mahavakyas002 Certainly not what they show in Top Gun
I live in Rockford Illinois in the USA and back in the 80's my Mother worked at the Testors toy Model Company that the building is on either 15th Ave or 18th Ave a few blocks away from Kishwaulkee St toward the River and that company some how that company got a picture or blueprint for that secret plane and began to build and send model kits for that secret plane to the stores to be sold to people who are into building model toys with glue and paint and plastic cutting tools ECT. And I remember when my Mother told me about how she had been working at that model toy company and had seen that model plane on the assembly line getting put into a box and getting ready to be sent to a store and sold to the public at large in America while still being a secret plane for the U.S. Military.
American skunk program of recruiting the best of the best and always putting out the best programs is light years ahead of the rest of the world. Let’s always keep it that way.
Hal, all I can say is what an excellent interview!!!! Chuck Mosa
Small teams lead by great leaders. Miss those good old days.
I totally had no idea that this would end this way. It was two in 1 for me. I tuned in for Hal, and ended up getting Kelly
You have to love storys like this
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Always admired the pilots, esp. those in the early days, where prototypes were real experimental, one of a kind death traps.
Skunk was really skunk work. Greetings from ARJ and PVO Service and Air Defense of Yugoslavia.
I thank you for your service.
I was fortunate enough to help manufacture some of the fasteners allegedly used in many of the probable projects that came out of no where. And I still feel a small sense of pride. I cant imagine what designing, building & piloting these crafts for your country entailed. 🇺🇸
Underrated comment. 👍
I don't care what anybody says the f-117 is one of the coolest looking airplanes ever!
That F-117 must have been initially scary to fly due to instability.
Yeah, that thing would be terrifying to fly. Especially since if something happens to the onboard computer you are left flying a brick.
@@floridanews8786 no.
Could imagine the flying pilots face when he first seen the F17,it be is someone punking me,as he go's over to knock on the F17 to see if it's wood or metal
@@floridanews8786I can tell ya' first hand they actually handle like a dream on manual and the "instability" factor is grossly overblown.
Er, well I mean I can *tell* you that, but I really have no experience whatsoever in the F-117.
You can imagine what'd be like if i did tho'..eh?
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@@j.p.sixgunner7194then u can't speak on how stable it is smh 🤷🏻
I always thought those flat surfaces and angles made it look bad a$$. I still remember seeing it roll out for the first time when they unveiled it to the public. It was an awesome sight. Heck, I still love the shape. It just looks so awesome
I wish I had more thrust but yes extremely futuristic and intimidating in a hyper intelligent way
@@chrislloyd261 huh? Bro do you even know what you’re talking about? Stfu! Stfu!!!
You are indeed correct - it will *always* look totally badass.
Even if it had never flown due to technical issues or anything else it is and always will be a beautiful looking machine
Still one of the most futuristic designs I can remember seeing.
In 1972, at 17, my two favorite planes were the F16 and the SR71 Blackbird. In the Marines was able to see some amazing stuff, like the first Harriers(sp?) up close, doing verticle landings and take offs on Okinawa, Japan, but the best was once being by myself on a walk, having a Blackbird come low over a low hill, seeing it first from a front view, I thought it was a UFO, but as it atarted getting over me, I knew what it was, but for years I was baffled by how it could be going so slow, looking to only be going about 60 mph about a 100 foot overhead. How could it retain lift that slow? But after being rear ended by a motor cycle, that was going about 60 mph while I was on a cycle only going about 10-15, I figured it out. When I first saw the SR71, I thought it a UFO and my mind must have gone into superspeed, so a few seconds seemed like minites, like it had in the cycle crash.
F16s is my fav
Great video! I worked on the flight simulator for the F-117 at Link and it was just as described. There were customers and Lockheed. Funny thing was, the customer people were the same people that worked on the B-52 simulator, so many people in the building knew who they were. But there was never any discussion with them because they were just “the customer”. Spent some time flying the simulator during change of shift between 2nd and 3rd shift
, it was fun times!
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DCS Sim. Get on!!!!!!
Hey great user name.....
@@Habu2 thanks!
how do you get such a job ?
Loved the little UFO quip! Great video, very interesting conversation about one of the craziest fighters to take to the sky!
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Sharing the first test pilot job. Awesome for those involved
The F117s (at least a 2-3) are still flying out of Tonopah and its neighbor as required for testing (multiple times a year as the equipment is finished and refined in CA). The chrome finish Nighthawk was testing new radar-absorbing material and the two that are frequently seen flying in tandem are testing AI wingman tech in a familiar platform setup - the lead pilot with the ability to input commands to the trailing aircraft without the need for a physical pilot in said aircraft. Very cool to see... You might get lucky if you find yourself on Highway 95 or 6 in Nevada.
I'm from that area (Mammoth Lakes),you definitely got some good looks,back in the day.
This guy had the best job in the whole world. Omg. "Yah, we could just go out and get in an A4 of maybe an f17 and go flying. We would have dog fights and practice fighting each other.". What? Wow, what an amazing life he must have had. That is awesome and I wish I could thank him for his service.
T-38 talons, A-7's and F-4's.
You were a little bit off. I'm not sure how easy it is to start up a piece of paper, but given correct folding, an A4 piece of paper can really get down and boogie!
I watched the 117 fly numerous times as I was stationed at Groom Lake in the early 80s. It was really cool to watch the plane fly overhead, followed by the T-38 (or F5) chase plane, then run inside our building to view only one plane on the radar PPI.
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They formed the most incredibly competent, dedicated, team of intelligent, team oriented overachievers.
Yeah wasn't based on race or gender identity was talent that made it great
my father worked at Lockheed at Moffett Field for about 25 years. Sometimes he would draw out things for me that he had made that day and then he would say but I can't tell you what it's for he said I don't even know! But he had a really good job for a long time he was a machinist and in the machinist union making damn good money. Peace and love!
It must have been a wonderful experience.
Wow! So much insight into history. Thank you!
Glad you enjoyed it Steve and thanks for the kind comment. More great stories coming soon!
Good old days when people worked hard to get shit done.
What a levelheaded man.
I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt, and not jump to any conclusions about credibility. With that said, something mentioned just past the 7 minute mark caught my ear in a bad way. He said that he already held a secret clearance but needed secret with special access required, which is a couple levels above secret. I started off my naval career with no clearance through boot camp. As soon as I got to sub school, I received interim secret while they worked on the process of getting my clearance approved. It was approved when I started my sonar school about 5 months later. After a couple years on the sub, I became a mission sonar supervisor. The position requires Top Secret as well as SCI (Sensitive Compartmentalized Information) with it. Basically I’m very knowledgeable with the clearance process and what they all mean. Here are my issues: there is no such thing as “special access required,” in clearances. He probably meant SAP (special access programs.) Even then he said it was a couple above secret. Add ons like SAP or SCI are not levels to the clearance, they are identifications of the type of access you have for that particular clearance level. In the statement, both were secret. Secret is the level and cannot be 2 above itself. But as I said at the beginning, I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt. It was long ago and maybe he didn’t care to fully understand everything about clearances so he just made a couple simple mistakes.
WOW! What a breathtaking video! So many superb aspects to this video. The narration was an all-time best!
Mr. Kelly Johnson is one of my personal hero’s and I really look up to him in my own life!
Both my grandparents work in the skunk works at the same time you worked there. My grandmother worked of the stealth fighter and grandpa work on the U2 and SR-71. They both were very proud to work on both projects.
Kelly an absolute legend. Thanks so much for this aviation document ary
You are welcome Lawrence. Thank you for watching.
One word, awesome!
Thank you
The big shortcoming of the F-117 was the lack of a tactical radar. Not until the radar developed for the B-2 could VLO aircraft use radar without giving away their location.
Before the B-2 is was Tacit Blue, the first stealth/low observable aircraft with a functional undetectable radar. It was built around the radar.
Ofcourse he had no ufo sightings, he was flying the ufo.
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I've spotted the F-117 in person once and it was the most unusual plane to see and awesome at the same time!
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I think you have to live next to a military air station or an NFL stadium.
@@billymciver3340 I live in Holland, between Eindhoven and Volkel. On a summernight in 2003 I think, I was smoking a sigarette in the backyard. I heard a jetnoise I had never heard before. 2 F117's in the dark screamed overhead about 300feet high. Amazing to see in the wild. ✌️😉
@@soldaat001 That is an incredible experience. Thank you for sharing.
I've seen it multiple times growing up 30 years going to airshows at offutt Air Force Base in Bellevue Nebraska now moved to Memphis TN in 2015 I'm 38
@airsafe1
I was one of a small group of recent vets who were hired by Lockheed in 1962, told nothing more than "you will work on interesting things". Three months of training before our security clearances came thru and we boarded a flight to "the ranch". I was assigned to article #2, now the A-12 on the Intrepid museum in NYC. Worked side by side with Kelly on several projects and to this day enjoy the memories of Knowing and working with him. Enjoyed the film and the history.
Thank You DroneScapes and Hal for the brilliant documentary. It was most entertaining, and I learned a lot about what I thought I already knew! lol
Our pleasure Robert!
This is the best most informative video of The Plains of the past especially for Skunk Works and Lockheed that I have ever seen I will definitely download it in 1958 I arrived in the Antelope Valley well actually they call it Lake La now but my dad my grandpa and my uncle worked at Skunk Works and I'll tell you what I heard a lot from those three even though I was a kid but this really it's the best I've seen yet thank you for putting this on video I will definitely download it absolutely love it thank you
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Five minutes in and I'm hooked!
Love your stuff.....
What a great honest man!!! This is what we all should follow!😆
Of all the aircraft out there. My favorites are the T-33, T-37 and T-38. Although with the WWll Warbirds, it's a hard choice. Dad taught Air Traffic Control at Keesler and one of the few controllers with keys to the tower at Edwards in the early 60's. I have a pic of me in front of the X-15.
Lockheed provided the airframe GE provided the first jet engine based on the Whittle design.
SW : the legend thank you for the video Kelly Johnson was a genius ...
He was a legend. Irreplaceable, as was Ben Rich and Allan Brown. Amazing that through the purposeful dumming down of Americans, a POS such as LaBron Janes is more known than Kelly Johnson, who without, many of them wouldn't even be here. Our country is on life support...
On a deployment to Nellis in the mid 80’s noted the A7’s flying but they didn’t do touch and go patterns. Take off out bound then return. Also there was a single commuter jet that flew civilians out then returned to unload them. Didn’t know at the time but these were employees shuttling to and from Area 51 to work on the F117.
Thank for sharing
I love these amazing people & there stories. Thank's you so much.👍💚
@@conlethbyrne4809 Thank you, I think they deserve as much visibility as possible
Actually, the Key Airline flights out of Nellis did not go to what the media refers to as "Area 51". They shuttled personnel to TTR.
these guys are the real OG's. Mad respect for them.
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Loved the video. I used to watch the SR-71 take off and land from Kedena AFB when I was stationed at Futema.
Thank you. You were very lucky!
My dad was stationed at Okinawa, Japan at Camp Butler Marine Base from about 1980 to 1985. We lived on the neighboring Naval Base Camp Kuwae which later was renamed as Camp Lester. We lived across the street from the Naval Hospital and traveled by bus to Amelia Earhart School later Kadena High School.
It was an air show everyday watching all of the planes from Kadena Air Force Base take off and als9 watching the Jolly Green Giants flying by as well as other aircraft. The SR 71 was everyone's favorite plane to watch. You knew when it was going to fly because you could hear those engines roar from Kadena Air Force Base all the way to where I lived.
The best thing I remember is when my friend and I was playing outside and we heard the engines roaring after testing and we heard the engines preparing for take off. The roar became very steady on strong, the moment when we finally were able to see it ind the air, we didn't expect it to be flying perfectly straight up vertically into the clear sky before sundown. You could see the after burners with a long firey trail burning right behind it. It is a sight that I would never forget. Okinawa, Japan was the best place I have ever lived as a kid.
@@rickrick1802 Great story.....and lucky !
MAGNIFICENT
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Skunk works are ahead of the game by far
I think the commentary about collaboration yeilding better results than turf wars and pissing contests (my words) might be the best part of this video.
Superb video and WHAT a boss to work for , incredible ,many now in 2022 could take a leaf from his book
Thank you for your service. It's great to hear your story. Always liked the lil skunk at Skunk Works. Portland Oregon says hello!
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The application of radar defeating/ stealth technology or theory was a turning point in aviation history. As computers became increasingly sophisticated and more powerful, engineering design software was able to be created that could compute the intricate lines/angles and designs necessary for stealth aircraft to be built that could defeat radar or give off a extremely small radar return. The stealth designs computed are mostly aerodynamically unstable and therefore almost impossible to manually fly without fly by wire systems making all the constant necessary corrections to flight surfaces to keep it in the air. The F-117 was a perfect example of aerodynamic instability in its airframe design and also represented the earlier computers processing and computing ability to produce stealth designs. Computers at the time of the F-117 development were not powerful enough to make more elegant stealth/ radar defeating designs such as the f-22 which has a completely different design that is less brash in the lines used on the design to deflect radar. Alot of flat surfaces and stark angles on the f-117 versus newer stealth aircraft but at the time this was due to the computers limited processing ability to create more sophisticated and refined stealth designs. It doesn’t take away from the significance and greatness of the f-117. What great minds and engineers there are in this world who create such unbelievably revolutionary and sophisticated engineering marvels. What a great time to exist in human history. Human technological development in the last 100 years has exponentially propelled humanity to a extremely advanced state where technological advancement has allowed us to send robots to planets in our solar system in our solar system and explore the extreme depths of our vast oceans. It’s just amazing to witness
Thank you for your service, Hal. Be kind to one another. Love to all
Now this is what I like in a video. Great interview.
Awesome, thank you!
This plane is more like a Alien plane..so beautiful work.
Great time watching you ! Dad knew but it was fun to be outside and try to find you flying.
Tks
Fascinating interview from this legend
Thank you
I could listen to this gentleman talk all day long.. I love history and I love aircraft… hope to hear more from him soon..
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Then I think you might also love this amazing pilot (almost 500 different airplanes tested): ua-cam.com/play/PLBI4gRjPKfnOzI39MG3ILpQkxPpgoZk4n.html
Most enjoyable... The 6th (+) generation aircraft we now use have been built from the shoulders of people like Kelly Johnson...
Kelly Johnson was one of a kind. Have you seen this biography on him? ua-cam.com/video/k9-m5tCT0zY/v-deo.html
The p38 was truly a thing of beauty! Such an iconic and effective aircraft for it's time!
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And if we needed a new plane today? Twenty years later, we might get a highly flawed and incredibly costly one, if we were lucky.
It took a lot of technology for designers to stop underestimating fin or vertical stabilizer size.
Even today, in the civil, experimental category, some designers are still caught redesigning vertical stabs.
I am guilty of overestimating it, which is not any less of a mistake. But, while doing flight testing, it is definetly better to go oversized rather than undersized.
Pulling a whole new plane out in 143 days is crazy
Well, the F-117 was built from many parts from other planes which made it a faster project.
@@shrimpflea The timelines on production are insane.
Thank you that was wonderful video and what a wonderful man and designer " Kelly Johnson " he sure knew his stuff. :)