Message posted by Andre' M. Dall'au on August 09, 2003 at 1:43:42 PST:
The FOXBAT was covered in plastic sheeting with the tails covered in plastic sheeting and camo netting. Still, I'm sure that the dust resulting from the burial and excavation compromised every moving part, gasket, and sealing surface. It also looks like the canopy was broken so the cockpit was probably full of dirt as well. The weight all that dirt put on the FOXBAT couldn't have been good for the airframe or undercarrige either. The FOXBAT will be interesting to take apart and study, but flying it using Western maintenence safety rules would be questionable. I do believe it probably will end up at Groom, as that is where the foreign aircraft specialists do their work (unless we don't make a deal and it goes to UK or Australia). I would think the satellite imagry of the area will be used in the NRO's next requalification class for their photo interpreters as "how did this get missed?". It sure does prove the point that those buggers bury stuff of value.
In Reply to: Re: Excavating a FOXBAT posted by lone wolf on August 08, 2003 at 23:32:45 PST:
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