HAVE BLACK/TR-7A Nightswift

[KiwiZac]

In March 1990, the magazine Aviation Week & Space Technology first broke the news that the term Aurora  was inadvertently released in the 1985 U.S. budget, as an allocation of US$455 million for "Black aircraft production" in Fiscal Year 1987 (note that this was for building aircraft, not Research and Development).  According to Aviation Week, Aurora referred to a group of exotic aircraft projects, and not to one particular airframe.  This was correct: Aurora was a blanket cover for two loosely connected although very different projects. The first was BRILLIANT BUZZARD, a design study for a Mach 4+ strategic reconnaissance aircraft to replace the SR-71 Blackbird. This was to eventually fly as the R-87 Condor and is covered in detail elsewhere. The second project, with which this report is concerned, was the HAVE BLACK program. Both were funded under Aurora, and were products of Lockheed Advanced Development Projects.

HAVE BLACK originated in the need for a tactical reconnaissance aircraft with high speed and stealth capability. Lessons learned from the successful – but still secret – HAVE BLUE and SENIOR TREND research programs by LADP saw a faceted airframe approach, with the basic design being a stretched delta. Vertical stabilizers with rudders were mounted on the upper surface, halfway along the aircraft's "wing" chord, with smaller auxiliary stabilizers underneath. Much of the hypothetical Aurora designs circulated in the media and, later, Internet discussion groups, had a similar configuration, but of a larger aircraft with at least two crew, and exotic power plants. HAVE BLACK was a single-seat design, the concept being broadly comparable to Lockheed's earlier U-2. The engines were a pair of Pratt & Whitney F-119s, the same as developed for the YF-22 Lightning II Advanced Tactical Fighter, albeit with fixed exhaust outlets. This, combined with the highly-swept leading edge and the use of certain materials in construction, resulted in a projected top speed near Mach 2.75.

Construction of the sole prototype, Article Zero-Seven, began at Lockheed's Palmdale plant in great secrecy sometime in 1985. By 1987 the airframe, nearing completion, was transported to the secure test facility at Groom Lake, for final assembly and flight testing. Taxi trials commenced in late 1988, and in February 1989 Article Zero-Seven took to the sky. Flight tests confirmed superb performance in all planes, except at low speed – to solve this unanticipated problem the LADP engineers designed a pair of canard fore-planes to be manually extended by the pilot to aid low-speed handling. In September the modified aircraft flew again, flawlessly. 

Production was given the green light in 1990, with fourteen examples ordered. An option was included for an additional six aircraft. These production airframes, complete with cameras and monitoring equipment that remain classified to this day, were designated the TR-7A Nightswift, although the type has reputedly gained the nicknames Paper Dart and Flying Wedge due to its shape. The first Nightswift flew in 1991, with deliveries completed by 1994.

The sole unit equipped with the TR-7A is the 99th Reconnaissance Squadron at Beale AFB, CA, currently with thirteen examples on strength (it is believed that the sole aircraft unaccounted for was lost in a crash in the United Kingdom in September 1994, although this has never been officially confirmed). The 99th aircraft often appear around the world with no advance notice, due to the very sensitive nature of the aircraft and its equipment. Even today, after more than a decade of active service, many details of the type remain classified, and the only available images are USAF official photographs or very poor amateur images at long distances. It is thought that the Nightswift fleet has seen service in the Balkan conflict during the mid 1990s, the Iraq War, and has even been reported as providing surveillance for the New Zealand government during the Fijian Crisis. As with many aspects of the TR-7A, the US government refuses to release any service information. The only official reports of the type are merely of the aircraft's designation and dimensions.

So. I, for some years now, have had in my possession Italeri No.034: SR-75 PENETRATOR WITH XR-7 THUNDERDART. Now, after goodness-knows how long, I'm finally finishing what the previous owner started. First up the smaller plane.



I have a rough idea of what I'll do with it, OOB, except with a couple of mods under the nose to represent cameras, and also the canards for low-speed handling. Not fitting the piggyback motors, so if anyone wants 'em, just sing out! Black black and possibly a little more black.



Gotta get some rattlecan black to do it, so it may be a wee while. Just thought it best to at least notify you of my intentions.

And yes, the "SR-75" will get a seeing-to soon as well .









***edited text color and corrected spelling errors***

[sotoolslinger]

Neat looking AC Zac Wish I had one.

[RotorheadTX]

Sotoolslinger - email send re: XR-7 kit.
Zac, that looks really sharp!! 

[KiwiZac]

Thanks Tony!


This one's on hold while I get my heliochopters (Westland-Sikorsky AH-69 and Aerospatiale SA269 Leopard) out of my system. But, more pics soon. Hopefully! Filler's applied to where the overwing engines would go, a LOT of sanding needed there.

[KiwiZac]

BUMP!

Seat in and canopy on. Very slow progress, but will keep posted.

Colour scheme ideas? Hill 2?

[Jeffry Fontaine]

Colour scheme ideas? Hill 2?

You could try for an overall white scheme with black around the edges for the topside and all black for the underside. 

Have you considered adding some kind of exhaust where the end of the fuselage curves upward to meet the trailing edge of the wing?  Perhaps some kind of 2D exhaust could be fashioned for a pair of engine exhausts that are similar to the F-22. 

[tigercat2]

Very good work, and an extremely believable story.  As far as color,  how about Titanium with a black mask around the edges, like the early schemes on the A-12 and YF-12.


Wes W.

[KiwiZac]

Thanks Wes! *blushes*

I think a variation of Jeff's idea would be cool....much as I DESPISE white.....or else Hill 2 is growing on me, maybe with orange panels...or else an in-service Nightswift in black.

[Shasper]

Overall Gunship gray (or dare I mention Euro-1 dk gray?) like the B-2s would look believable . . . then there's the Mod Eagle camo that was sported by a F-117 near the end.

Shas

[KiwiZac]

? Care to share pics? You've piqued my interest...

[Shasper]

Here's my own from B'Dale 05: http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=viewImage&friendID=74996158&albumID=1487128&imageID=26435424

And courtesy of ARC: http://www.arcair.com/Gal7/6601-6700/gal6673-F-117-Mao/16.jpg
                              http://www.arcair.com/Gal7/6601-6700/gal6673-F-117-Mao/14.jpg


Shas

[KiwiZac]

That's pretty much what I had in mind for the FB-111E....good stuff! I like it....and I think it WILL look good on the Nightswift! Thanks Shas!

[Brian da Basher]

that last shot's a keeper, Zac! Not sure why you appear so flummoxed, but I'm glad to see you looking so well.

Black is the perfect choice for this beauty!

Brian da Basher