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An F-117 that spent its career as a test article was towed from the 410th Flight Test Squadron facility at Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, California, on 3 March to the nearby Blackbird Airpark where it joined the U-2 and SR-71 on static display. Members of the 410th Flight Test Squadron prepared the aircraft for public display. The Nighthawk was stripped of its military hardware, including the engines, tailpipes, radar-absorbent material, much of the nose, and even the original glass in the canopy, before being restored to its original appearance. Refurbishment took seven months. This particular aircraft was the first to be photographed for public release when the Air Force officially revealed the stealth fighter’s existence in 1989.
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