From the U-2 Dragon Lady andA-12Oxcart , to theSR-71 BlackbirdandD-12 Ramjet Drone , there ’s been no dearth of alien aircraft ( and UFO sightings ) in the sky over Nevada ’s expanse 51 . But among the most utmost example of bleeding - sharpness avionic design test was the otherworldly Boeing Bird of Prey .
https://gizmodo.com/what-its-like-to-fly-a-top-secret-spy-plane-a-live-con-5921228
https://gizmodo.com/the-thrill-of-flying-the-sr-71-blackbird-5511236
One of the most intriguing products of the Phantom Works that really was a denizen of Area 51 on George Muellner ’s watch was the Bird of Prey . Visually , this aircraft possessed the unknown , but sleek conception characteristic that are appreciated by those in the world of extraterrestrial buffs . It was even named after an exotic starship . According to James Wallace , writing in the Seattle Post - Intelligencer of October 18 , 2002 , it is named for a class of Klingon starships first seen in the 1984 motion picture Star Trek III : The Search for Spock .
The Bird of Prey labor began at the Phantom Works in 1992 , and the aircraft made its first flight of stairs eight month sooner than the X-36 on September 11 , 1996 . Unlike the publically acknowledge NASA X-36 , the Bird of Prey was a classified program , fund by the contractor but apparently bring off by the US Air Force . Like Tacit Blue , it was successfully obscured from public sight until its flight of steps trial computer program close in April 1999 after forty successful flights .
The Bird of Prey platform , like many of the projects that have come out of the Phantom Works , utilized speedy prototyping techniques to switch off both cost and developing sentence . According to the party , the program “ initiate find broken - discernible technologies and revolutionized aircraft design , development and production . ” The Bird of Prey was also one of the first aircraft programme to “ initiate the use of large , single - piece composite structures ; depressed - cost , disposable tooling ; and 3D virtual reality design and assembly process to see the aircraft was low-priced to build as well as high - performing . ”
The aircraft was not , however , one to fight the edge of the performance envelope . The Bird of Prey had a report cruise pep pill of 300 mph and a pocket-sized service ceiling of 20,000 feet . The aircraft was 47 feet long and had a wingspread of about 23 feet . It librate about 7,400 pounds and was powered by an off - the - ledge Pratt & Whitney JT15D-5C turbofan engine .
The man who is considered to have been the “ father of the Bird of Prey ” was Alan Wiechman , the director of key signature design and applications for the Phantom Works whose career in LO intent had get down at the Lockheed Skunk Works where he make for on Have Blue and the F-117 broadcast , as well as the Sea Shadow , Lockheed ’s stealth warship .
In April 2002 , six months before the Bird of Prey was officially declassified , Wiechman received the 2001 Technical Achievement Award from the National Defense Industrial Association ( NDIA ) for his study in LO aircraft intention . The
NDIA called him “ a goliath whose study to date has given the United States a legacy of improved survivability and influence an integral generation of fighting vehicles , ” adding that “ because of Wiechman ’s work , the United States pull ahead a 15 - year lead over possible opposer that it has not let go of , and the effectiveness of his designing and products has been thoroughly proven in combat operations . ”
On October 18 , 2002 , the Bird of Prey was made public . consort to Boeing , the reason was that “ the technologies and capabilities developed [ in the program ] have become industriousness standards , and it is no longer necessary to hold in the aircraft ’s existence . ”
Jim Albaugh , United States President of Boeing Integrated Defense Systems , proudly gasconade that with the Bird of Prey , the Phantom Works “ changed the dominion on how to design and progress an aircraft . ”
George Muellner , a military man with two decade of experience in smutty world plane and now an executive with Integrated Defense Systems , added that the Bird of Prey program “ is one of many that we are using to define the future of aerospace . ”
The fact that Boeing itself funded the project to the tune of $ 67 million hints that “ the future of aerospace ” involves secret more intriguing than the Bird of Prey that have been in the sky over Area 51 since before 2002 .
They may be revealed tomorrow , or they may remain mysteries indefinitely .
Area 51 – Black reverse lightning : A account of the Aircraft Developed at Groom Lake , America ’s Secret Aviation Base by Bill Yenne is available fromAmazon .
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