Have Blue

Have Blue was the code-name for the prototype Stealth Fighter program. It was the first airplane designed from an electrical engineering (rather than an aerodynamic) perspective. The aircraft's plate-like, faceted shape was designed to deflect electromagnetic waves, making the plane essentially invisible to radar.

Two Have Blue planes were built to test both the flight dynamics and radar-returns of the stealth concept. These prototypes flew at Groom Lake, NV between 1977 and 1979. Both planes were lost in crashes, and the toxic debris from these aircraft was buried near the lake bed.

"Even though the test site was in a remote location, our airplane was kept under wraps inside its hangar most of the time. Soviet satellites made regular passes, and every time our airplane was rolled out everyone on the base who wasn't cleared for Have Blue had to go into the windowless mess hall and have a cup of coffee until we took off."

- Ben Rich, director of Lockheed's Skunk Works from 1975-1991