Post #1866907

2026-05-02 00:52 UTC

If you're an #avgeek, I'm sure you've heard that the reason the F-117 Stealth Fighter was so angular was that computers couldn't calculate the radar signature of complex shapes. This the guy who wrote that code and ran those simulations in the 1970s, creating the modern stealth aircraft from seemingly unrelated maths developed by Maxwell in the late 1800s. https://www.airandspaceforces.com/denys-overholser-stealth-pioneer-whose-work-led-to-the-f-117-dies-at-86/

Replies (4)

@ikluft@avgeek.social 2026-05-02 01:31

@simonbp@social.linux.pizza I'm sure you remember the story when the stealth ideas were put up to a secret industry contest. Lockheed's scale model went up on the pole and the radar operator scoffed, saying he could see it. Then the bird sitting on it flew away. Poof! It completely disappeared from the radar. I had heard that story before. But it was fun to hear it again (and confirmed) from a pilot who flew the F-117 when he was in the Air Force.

Open ##1866906
@c_merriweather@social.linux.pizza 2026-05-02 05:19

@simonbp@social.linux.pizza Let us also give credit to the SR-71 Blackbird. First flight, 1964. Official "release," 1966.

Open ##1872479
@phredmoyer@hachyderm.io 2026-05-02 01:22

@simonbp@social.linux.pizza @miden the method of edge diffraction something something. A nice Russian paper this was also based on.

Open ##2215033
@PenguinToot@twit.social 2026-05-03 16:54

@simonbp@social.linux.pizza @AirlineReporter@avgeek.social Wow, great story about an aircraft pioneer I never heard of. Thanks for sharing.

Open ##2215034