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President’s Corner 2 F-117 Archives 7

The First Nighthawks 3-5 Join The SFA 8

First Female F-117 Pilot 6

Volume 11 Issue 3

Fall 2014

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Inside This Issue

Stealth Fighter Association Newsletter

The fall is an extremely busy time for me and I’m sure for all of you as well. For

this issue of the SFA Newsletter, I did not have the time available to search out and

find any untold stories from the Nighthawk world. So, I decided to reprint a couple

of stories from some of the early issues of the Newsletter. I recently took a look at

some of the earlier issues and found some exciting stuff. Jay Tweed did a great job

on those early issues. He found a multitude of articles that were interesting. Of

course, back then there was a lot more F-117 related news. The plane was actively

flying around the globe participating in airshows, supporting Operation Iraqi Free-

dom and supporting the 49th FW mission at Holloman.

The F-117 is one of the greatest success stories of our generation. Even though our

favorite jet is no longer in the active Air Force fleet, there are many tales that still

need to be told. I estimate that from 1975 when the F-117 was first conceived to

2008 when it was retired from active service there were well over 20,000 people in-

volved in all aspects of developing, flying, maintaining and supporting the stealth

fighter program. As of this month we have only 192 members in the Stealth Fighter

Association. We need to find our colleagues and encourage them to join the SFA

and tell their stories. Editor—Greg Meland

SFA Board of Directors

2012-2017

Andy Papp, President

Lou Gum, Vice President

Mary Burris, Secretary/Treasurer

Kent Burns, Board Member

Greg Meland, Board Member

Nighthawk Newsletter Team Editor: Greg Meland

Web Site: Dave Walker Graphics: Dave Walker

Newsletter: f117sfa@gmail.com Contact us

F-117 Stealth Fighter Association PO Box 151196

Ft Worth, TX 76108-1196

Web: www.f117sfa.org Info: f117sfa@gmail.com

Please let us know if you are interested in

helping out with the planning and the ex-

ecution of the many activities. Also,

keep contacting with your Black Jet

friends and get them to jump on board

with us.

As this is the last newsletter until the

New Year, I wish you all a great autumn

and an outstanding holiday season.

There is no better time of the year to be with family

and friends. I wish you all the best, however you

spend this special season.

Thanks,

Andy

Andrew Papp,

President

Stealth Fighter Association

In the last few weeks it has seemed like

our country has been under attack on

many fronts…disease, the economy,

and, of course, radical Islam. When

the bombing recently started on social

media I read a few folks (non-F-117)

say that they wished we still had opera-

tional F-117’s for the present ops.

Alas, that was not to be, but as you all saw, the F-22,

descendant of our program, jumped in and took

over, stealth and all. And the factory in Fort Worth

is cranking up, pumping out more F-35s. While our

aircraft is “retired”, everything that went into it lives

on today.

We are almost halfway from our last reunion to our

next and plans are spinning up for the festivities.

President’s Corner

V O L U M E 1 1 I SS U E 3 Page 2

A Blast from the Past

V O L U M E 1 1 I SS U E 3 Page 3

The First Nighthawks

First in a series of previously untold stories about the

F-117’s early days.

Written by Bill Scott, Aviation Week

Depicting a symbolic nighthawk in flight and worn on a man’s suit lapel, it’s just a small, innocuous silver

pin. But a red ruby in the hawk’s eye silently speaks volumes. It says the pin’s owner is part of a small, elite

club – the U.S. Air Force’s first group of operational F-117 Nighthawk pilots. Each pilot was handpicked in

the early 1980s to fly the world’s first stealth

fighter, a program so steeped in secrecy that few top government officials knew it existed.

The initial cadre of pilots, maintenance technicians and commanders quietly moved their families to the Las

Vegas area, not exactly sure why they were there. The uniformed officers and enlisted personnel who depart-

ed early each week and returned for weekends were not allowed to reveal where they went or what they did.

For years, the pilots spent most of the workweek at an

air base near Tonopah, NV, flying a black arrowhead like attack aircraft only at night. They also flew

Vought A-7 Corsairs as companion trainers for the F-117 Nighthawk, and used A-7 call signs and identifiers

when talking to air traffic controllers – even when actually in a Nighthawk. As the 4450th Tactical Group –

the first operational F-117 unit – trained and developed air-to-ground tactics, its pilots were restricted to fly-

ing simulated and actual bombing missions within the Nellis AFB range boundaries. The aircraft’s very ex-

istence was top-secret, and venturing

outside those boundaries was for-

bidden. At the time, being spotted

was unacceptable.

Col. Howell M. Estes III , arrived

at Tonopah in May1984 and as-

sumed command for the 4450th

TG as the transition to full opera-

tional status was getting under-

way. Three production F-117’s

were on base, but the fleet and

unit were expanding rapidly. An

operations-oriented base, com-

plete with hangers, barracks, fuel

supplies, maintenance facilities

and ordnance storage sites, was

still being built. But getting the

unit combat-ready was Estes’ top

priority. That meant flying out-

side the Nellis range, and running

simulated “real-world” missions.

The following stories were originally published in our Dec 2003 Dec 2004 and issues of the newsletter.

Since we’ve had a hard time finding new F-117 related stories we decided to revisit a couple of stories

from past newsletters.

A Blast from the Past

V O L U M E 1 1 I SS U E 3 Page 4

Flights soon started making simulated attacks on targets outside the range complex – but still relatively close

to the Nighthawk “home” in Tonopah. One night mission took a still secret F-117 over downtown Las

Vegas, simulating a bombing attack on selected buildings in an urban setting.

The night was dark, but as the solo Nighthawk flew over the famous “Strip’s” bright lights, its black arrow-

head planeform was illuminated from below – unbeknown to the pilot. Besides, who

on the floodlit streets of Vegas could possibly look up through that glare and see a black airplane against the

dark sky? But the F-117 pilot hadn’t counted on a two-seat F-16 also cruising over Las Vegas, about 1,000 ft.

below his Nighthawk. A local air traffic controller dutifully called the F-16 to report an aircraft crossing over-

head, saying, “there’s an A-7 1,000 ft. above you”. The F-16 pilot shot back: “I don’t know what it is, but it’s

no #%&@* A-7!” A highly classified Nighthawk has been spotted off range for the first time. The F-117 pilot

quickly called his Tonopah ops center and reported the F-16 crew’s sighting, unleashing a flurry of activity.

The

wheels of USAF security turned quickly that night and no-nonsense officials met the sharp-eyed F-16 crew

after it landed. The Viper pilots were sternly “debriefed” and told to keep their mouths shut. That incident

marked a turning point for the still embryonic attack aircraft’s operations. As the F-117 fleet grew and its pi-

lots became more proficient, Estes’ boss at then-Tactical Air Command (TAC) decided it was time to test the

Nighthawk unit’s combat readiness. A lot of money had been spent on the nation’s first stealth fighter, and

some very important people wanted to know whether it could really do its primary job – slip past enemy ra-

dars and hit a target at night. The 4450th TG would have its first Operational Readiness Inspection (ORI) in

May 1985. An ORI is a unit’s ultimate non-combat test. A passing grade is mandatory, or heads would roll –

usually starting with the commander. For a spanking-new weapon system like the F-117 – an aircraft that

symbolized a massive departure in Air Force capabilities and combat strategy – the stakes were even higher.

The Virginia-based TAC inspection team had a few tricks in its playbook when it arrived in Nevada, too.

Nighthawks would be required to attack targets the pilots had never seen before. These “first-look” targets

were miles away in Utah, Idaho and California. Eight F-117’s would fly on several nights, stressing the small

cadre of commanders, pilots, maintenance technicians and intelligence troops. “We had a ‘Shack’ on each

and every target the ORI team gave us,”

Estes recalled recently. “It was unbeliev-

able. Nobody had ever seen anything like

it.” A “shack” in pilots bombing parlance

is a direct hit. As a result, the TAC in-

spection team gave the 4450th TG an

“Outstanding” rating in each category on

its first ORI, and raved about the unit’s

proficiency. When the TAC team briefed

Vern Orr, the Air Force Secretary, about

the Nighthawk’s sterling performance,

Orr turned to Estes and said:

“Great job. But you can’t tell anybody!”

A few years later, the F-117 flew its first

combat

engagement during attacks in Panama.

Results were mixed, thanks to target-

changes given to the

A Blast from the Past

V O L U M E 1 1 I SS U E 3 Page 5

Nighthawks during their nonstop flight to the Central American nation. “It wasn’t an accurate reflection of

what we a l l knew t h e F-117’s capabilities really were.” Estes said . Any inaccurate perceptions vanished

during the 1991 Persian Gulf War, when Nighthawks bombed vital targets in Baghdad on the first night of

air attacks, braving a barrage of anti-aircraft fire and

missiles. Throughout the subsequent intense a ir campaign over several weeks, not a single F-117 was

damaged by enemy fire. Without question, “this stealth (stuff) works,” a pilot declared later.

Estes retired in the late 1990s as a four-star general commanding U.S. military space forces. He

accomplished a great deal in his Air Force career, from flying fighters in Vietnam to overseeing billions of

dollars worth of satellites, rockets and nuclear-armed missiles. But he’s particularly proud of that small red

-eyed nighthawk on his lapel.

(Based on interviews with USAF Gen. (ret.) Howell

M. Estes, III) Reprinted from Aviation Week,

Contrails Article, May 12, 2003. Go to www.

AviationNow.com/awst for additional Articles. Bill

Scott is looking for more F117 stories, please contact

him at wmbscott@bigplanet.com

A Blast from the Past

V O L U M E 1 1 I SS U E 3 Page 6

Capt. Donna Kohout, 8th Fighter Squadron pilot, is the first female to fly the F-117A Nighthawk.

First female F-117 pilot takes flight at Holloman

by Mrs. Laura Hunt

Sunburst staff writer Aug 12, 2004 Sunburst

The first female

F-117A Nighthawk

pilot joined the Air

Force because she

craved a career with

a mission. Captain

Donna Kohout, 8th

Fighter Squadron,

said she wanted a

challenge, to travel

and an adventure.

“I’ll admit to being

something of an

adrenaline junky,”

she said. “The Air

Force fit.” Captain

Kohout called a

recruiter and told

him she was going

to be a fighter pilot. “He laughed at first,” she said.

“But he was very helpful and I got in as a pilot on

my first application.”

Before joining the Air Force, she got her private

pilot’s license during a semester off from Duke

University. When Captain Kohout realized she

preferred flying to any ground job, she reconsid-

ered

the Air Force. She had originally considered join-

ing

the Air Force during and after college, but the time

wasn’t right, she said. After working a number of

jobs on the ground, she wanted to get back in

the air. After joining the Air Force, she flew

F-16s for four years in Korea and Japan,

she said.

When the time came to move to another base, fly-

ing

assignments were limited. Captain Kohout wanted

to

keep flying, so she listed F-117s along with F-16s

on

her assignment sheet, she said. She was chosen to

fly

in the F-117. “Flying the F-117 is just like the

simulator,” she said. “It’s the same sense of

responsibility yet freedom as flying in a single seat

F-16.” The difference between flying the F-117 and

F-16 is that Captain Kohout is the first woman to fly

the Nighthawk. “When I worked in the building

maintenance shop at Colorado’s Keystone Resort, I

was the first and only woman there as well,” she

said. “There wasn’t nearly as much attention

surrounding that, but it’s really no different.

“If you prove that you can do your job well and that

you’re not there to step in their chili or steal their

thunder, you’ll be accepted. The biggest part is just

do your job and do it well.” Although she is making

history as the first female F-117 pilot, Captain

Kohout says she considers herself just another pilot

here. “There are some pilots here who’ve done

some

great things, who easily deserve more attention than

me,” she said. “But we all just work together and do

what we’ve been trained to do.

“It’s the nature of the business, and the nature of the

people who are in that business – both in the air and

on the ground.” According to Captain Kohout, she

will do the best she can where she is. “Do that, and

the possibilities open before you,” she said. “God

alone knows what the future holds for me. I’ll see

when it gets here.”

F-117 Archives

Page 7 V O L U M E 1 1 I SS U E 3

7/23/1976 - An article in the "Aerospace Daily" reports that Lockheed is building a Stealth aircraft that is due to fly in two

years.

9/1/1981 - The F-117 depot operation began at Lockheed's Palmdale, CA facility.

7/7/1982 - Aircraft 79-783 made its first flight.

7/7/1982 - The last of the flight test aircraft (aircraft 79-784) was delivered to the Air Force.

7/1/1985 - PS-33 (Det 6, 2762nd Logistics Support Squadron, Norton AFB, CA was deactivated.

7/1/1986 - The Testor Corporation began marketing a model aircraft designated the "F-19 Stealth Fighter".

8/22/1986 - The Washington Post published a story with the headline - "50 'Stealth' Fighters in Operation". The story

claimed that "several squadrons" of Stealth fighters are hidden in hangars in the Nevada desert near Tonopah.

9/1/1989 - The 4450th Equipment Maintenance Squadron (EMS) was activated at Tonopah Test Range, NV as was as-

signed to the 4450th TG. Maj Louise A. Eckhardt assumed command.

7/15/1991 - Aircraft 84-0824 deployed to the McKinley Climatic Lab at Eglin AFB, FL to begin a 6 month climatic test.

7/17/1991 - Aircraft 79-0781 made its last flight as it transferred to the Air Force Museum, Wright-Patterson AFB, OH and

put on display.

7/9/1992 - The 37th Fighter Wing and Tonopah Test Range (PS-66) were deactivated.

9/12/1996 - The F-117 set a new record for the longest single seat fighter flight by flying 18.5 hours non-stop from Hollo-

man AFB, NM to Kuwait.

9/12/1996 - Eight F-117s and 300 support personnel were deployed to al Jabr Air Base, Kuwait in support of Operation

Desert Strike.

9/14/1997 - Aircraft 81-10793, 7th FS/AMU, crashed during an airshow at Martin State Airport 12 miles Northeast of Bal-

timore, MD and was destroyed.

7/13/2004 - Aircraft 787 and 808 deployed to RAF Fairford, United Kingdom to support the Farnbourough Air Show.

http://www.f117sfa.org

Web Site Info

Join The Stealth Fighter Association

Page 8

For those folks reading this

Newsletter who are not current

members of the SFA, membership is

open to all personnel, civilian or

military, who at some time in their

career were associated with the F-117

Stealth Fighter Aircraft program.

Additional info is available on the

SFA web site, and hard copies of this

newsletter are available for mailing to

interested folks. Please ask a member

or drop a line to:

Stealth Fighter Association PO Box 151196

Ft Worth, TX 76108-1196

V O L U M E 1 1 I SS U E 3

Stealth Fighter Association Mission

Statement

The Stealth Fighter Association is an

affiliation of individuals brought to-

gether by the common bond of asso-

ciation with the world’s first stealth

fighter, the Lockheed Martin F-117,

produced by the Lockheed Martin

Skunk Works for the United States

Air Force. Our mission is to preserve

the memory of our struggles to attain

a stealth combat capability second to

none, maintain the legacy of the F-

117 “Nighthawk,” maintain the

bonds of brother and sisterhood be-

tween those who contributed to make

the awesome combat capability of

stealth a reality, and act as a govern-

ing board to oversee the planning and

execution of periodic reunions at ei-

ther five or ten year cycles.

We’re still in the process of updating our web site.. If anyone of you out there have experience and

would like to volunteer to help out, please let me know via email (f117sfa@gmail.com). By the next

newsletter we hope to have everything up and running. Let us know if you would like see anything

particular on the web site.

You can reach us at: f117sfa@gmail.com