C 172 Nighthawk
I read somewhere that radar absorbing paint has all kinds of ferrous materials, epoxy, and other silicon dioxide materials in it. If you ever get to touch a F-35 or something similar, they feel kind of weird actually. And of course, nobody tells you what exactly is in these paints. I hear the air force has specially trained teams who go around and remove this nasty stuff so the mechanics can get to the screws to open the panels, and then re-apply it when they are done with the maintenance. To quote a friend of mine, who is a chief mechanic on a squadron of F-35s, “Yeah … those guys probably won’t get very old.”
The difference between me and Chuck though is, that I this and think “huh, that’s interesting”, then move on, while Chuck goes out and tries to reproduce what the air force came up with. Only on a smaller and way, waaaaay, cheaper scale. Do you guys think he can make it work?
Mike
Chuck coats the wings with zimmerit.
(mirthful evyl chuckle) Oh chuck, don’t ever change.
When I was learning to fly I actually flew a C-172 Nighthawk. Night short cross country, after dinner got ready to depart. At no point could ground or tower see us, but they cleared us based on where we said we were as there was no traffic. Even at the hold-short line, they couldn’t see us, but said we were cleared for takeoff. As we were leaving the pattern my instructor realized the position lights, strobes, and transponder were all off. Talk about stealth!
“Yeah … those guys probably won’t get very old.” – Is that coating material hazardous to health?