The Non-Stealth

See the poster above? It appears to advertise the Northrop/Loral F-19 Specter, a stealthy plane designed in the 70s and produced in the 80s, much like the F-117 fighter. Was it so secret that you haven't heard of it?

No, but if you put together model airplanes, you may have heard of it:

Yup, that's it -- my favorite model of my youth. I had been given one when I was probably around 11 or 12. I grew up, moved on, but after my divorce I needed a hobby...so I started building model airplanes again. I was about as good at it as I was when I was young, but it kept me out of trouble.

One day, I went to the old, somewhat shoddy hobby shop in town. On a shelf I found a very dusty box -- that faux stealth fighter of my youth. I bought it, brought it home, and put it together. Want to see it? It's standing in for the real thing in these pictures. Don't trust anything you read on the internet -- it might just be produced by the fevered mind of an obsessed hobbyist. (more on the subject at CQ)