Hobby Master Archive

The Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk 0835 “The Dragon” first flew June 30, 1988. During the Gulf War 0835 carried out twenty six combat missions with the 416th TFS. In 2003 0835 was painted all gray; hence the Gray Dragon, to test the effectiveness of a color other than black. The standard F-117 black scheme helped stealth at night but was poor in sun light so 0835 was flown twice daily to test the 24 hour stealth presence. Before any conclusion had been reached the Nighthawk fleet was retired.