The mysterious Stealth fighter, an aircraft whose development may rank as one of the worst-kept secrets in military history, is about to stage its first public fly-by for residents of the Midwest.
The appearance by the Stealth, which flies at relatively slow speeds and can be seen easily by spectators, is expected to draw additional thousands to the heavily attended Air and Water Show on Chicago`s lakefront.
”There is a great interest in the Stealth,” said Marvin English, an aviation education specialist with the Illinois Division of Aeronautics. ”The show is a real first chance for people for see it.”
The 32nd Chicago Park District Air and Water Show takes place July 14 and 15. Water activities get underway at 10 a.m. and flying programs start at noon Saturday and Sunday.
English said those thinking of coming to the show should harbor few fears over the plane that has been described as ”invisible.”
”You certainly will be able to see it,” he said. ”It is called invisible, but that means to radar,” English said.
”It is a crazy looking aircraft and it is relatively small, but, considering just how secretive the military has been about the plane, it will be a unique opportunity to see it, even from a distance.”
The F-117A Stealth fighter employs special design techniques and is built with materials to help it evade radar detection. It is, indeed, a strange looking bird. Development cost was $22.5 billion, with each aircraft priced at about $106 million. It is the product of California`s Northrop Corp.
Later this month the Stealth will be displayed on the ground at the annual convention of the Experimental Aircraft Association in Oshkosh, Wis.
Of course, Stealth is not the only aircraft on the Air and Water Show`s agenda.
Numerous other unique planes will be featured in the annual show. It has become so enormous that, three years ago, it outgrew the area near Chicago Avenue and was moved north to center on North Avenue Beach.
So, apply sunscreen liberally, sit back, relax and take a look at what $50 billion or so of your tax dollars can provide in the way of entertainment. The mile-long beach, which extends to Fullerton Avenue, provides more comfortable accommodations for the hundreds of thousands expected to view the event.
In addition to the Stealth fighter, the controversial B-1B long-range multirole strategic bomber, built by Rockwell International Corp., also will make an appearance.
The craft is 147 feet long and can carry three nuclear weapons. First flown in late 1984, the B-1B was designed to replace the Strategic Air Command`s aging fleet of Boeing B-52 Stratofortresses, most of which are older than their pilots. The B-1B program cost $35.5 billion for development and plane construction, according to the General Accounting Office.
In addition to ultramodern aircraft, the workhorses of the military also will be at the show.
The Illinois Air National Guard brings to the event its KC-135 Stratotanker. The aircraft, first built in 1956 by Boeing Aircraft Corp., Wichita, is an in-flight refueler.
There are 650 of the aircraft in service around the world. The KC-135 is scheduled to fly by with a couple of fighters in a simulated refueling.
If you saw the movie ”Top Gun,” you will see the real thing as a Navy F-14A Tomcat fighter roars by. When the afterburners kick in on the aircraft, which can reach speeds of more than 1,500 miles per hour, the noise will shake the ground and the audience`s teeth. However, there will be no supersonic speeds at the show, lest every window on the lakefront be broken.
Grumman Aircraft Corp. won the design competition for the carrier-based F-14A fighter in 1969. The wings of the Tomcat are movable and the positions are programmed automatically for optimum performance during flight.
Among the most interesting aircraft to appear is the Marine Corps` AV-8B Harrier, a close support fighter aircraft built by McDonnell Douglas Corp. and British Aerospace Inc. The Harrier is a V/STOL aircraft. It is capable of vertical and short takeoffs and landings. The first operational Harriers came to the Marines in 1983.
The craft can make a high-speed pass, stop abruptly in midair, turn and hover like a giant insect. A series of adjustable nozzles allows the craft to hover and back up. The noise is deafening but the sight is so unusual that is is not uncommon to see thousands of spectators standing with their ears covered and jaws dropped.
A special part of the air and water show is the U.S. Coast Guard, which celebrates its 200th anniversary this summer. It maintains rescue stations at Wilmette and Calumet harbors, a helicoptor air station in Glenview and a Marine Safety Office downtown. These units have 120 active duty members and about 200 reserves.
Last year the Coast Guard air station received two new state-of-the-art rescue helicopters, the HH-65A Dolphin, made by France`s Aerospatiale.
The craft contains highly sophisticated computer equipment that allows the pilot to punch in a destination, after which the craft will go there and begin flying a search grid automatically. This allows the pilot and crew to be free to look out the windows. The craft can hover over a victim in the water as a crew member lowers a basket to achieve a rescue.
The U.S. Air Force demonstration squadron, the Thunderbirds, are the main event. The 55-minute performances of six F-16 Fighting Falcons, made by General Dynamics Corp., are crowd pleasers. Flown by what are considered the best pilots in the Air Force, the craft zip past one another, sometimes within feet, at closing speeds of more than 1,100 m.p.h.
The show also boasts a demonstration of the C-130 Hercules, made by Lockheed Corp. The four-engine turboprop transport, in use for nearly 40 years, is one of the most reliable heavyweight aircraft.
The McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet fighter made for the Navy also will appear.
And the show will include Gene Littlefield flying his Stearman biplane with a wing walker, small aerobatic aircraft, water skiers, the U.S. Army Golden Knights parachute team and a host of boats of many sizes and speeds.
There is entertainment throughout the day, and there is a lot of room on the beach. But plan your trip carefully; parking will be the biggest problem. A shadow hangs over this year`s show because of the recent deaths of a half dozen pilots in five weeks of air shows ending this month. A stunt pilot crashed a World War II-era plane into the Niagara River July 1 at a show, another died that weekend at Groton, Conn., and another in Ottawa, Ontario. The other pilots were killed earlier.
The Air and Water show has changed significantly since Al Benedect, then supervisor of Lake Shore Park, came up with the idea in 1959.
Benedect and his staff just wanted a nice summer event. There was a little water ballet, the fireboat came by and sprayed colored water in the air and the Coast Guard demonstrated an air-sea rescue.
A few thousand spectators watched.
The next year, with help from then Gov. Otto Kerner, the Navy Blue Angels flight performance team appeared the show, and it has grown every year since. The show now boasts a host of corporate sponsors and has hired a ”full-service events marketing organization” to handle publicity.
