Message posted by Joerg (Webmaster) on July 29, 2005 at 10:02:47 PST:
Posted for Steve Douglass, with friendly permission. Click on the attached links for the article. -- I'm sure many in this forum will be rushing out to see Stealth at their local movie house tomorrow. I just saw an advanced screening and while the movie is pure eye candy for us black aircraft buffs, there are obvious and glaring pure Hollywoodized technical goofs that will want you to jump out of the movie and shout "C'mon.. give me a break!" I won't go into them now but you'll know them when you see them. However despite its flaws its not a bad summer popcorn flick and to the average Joe on the street, the flaws won't be so obvious. Keep in mind as you watch the movie the stealth technology is (very loosely) based on on reality and in particular a much rumored Northrop/Grumman experimental forward swept swing-winged aircraft known in secret circles as the "Switchblade." It is not known if the Switchblade program resulted in an operational aircraft system or was a "one of" technology demonstrator much like the Bird Of Prey. The fact that Northrop Grumman was one of the technical advisors on the film hints that the Switchblade never became operational. I wrote about the rumors and sightings surrounding this project in the November, 2000 issue of Popular Science Magazine and I've sent it to the web master for posting on this site with Pop Sci's permission. After seeing the movie it seems clear to me the writer pulled many of his ideas for the movie from this article and one I wrote on unmanned systems that I will post at a later date. -Steve Douglass
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