The F117A "Stealth Fighter" will be mothballed by April. The angular, radar-evading single seat aircraft, a platform so aerodynamically unstable that it can only be flown with computer assistance, will be replaced by the more conventional-appearing F22 Raptor, which is larger but more capable.
It seems like it just arrived, yet it's been in service for 27 years, having first flown in 1981. Unlike warplanes such as the P-51 or the F-14 (of "Top Gun" fame), the F-117A generated more respect than love even among its admirers. However, its designers' single-minded devotion to the proof of a concept yielded a remarkable product that set the stage for the next generation of military aircraft.
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