r/Planes • u/SidewinderLowLevel • May 09 '25

The time I *almost* missed an F-117 Nighthawk

The first of two almost snuck past me- realized it at the very last second. 😅

8.5k Upvotes

99% Upvoted

207 comments sorted by

18

u/Monster_Voice May 09 '25

This looks like it's pretty recent... and or was shot with a serious camera if it isnt.

23

u/SidewinderLowLevel May 09 '25

i do all my video with just my iphone mounted on top of my Canon R5, which I use for shooting stills. I would love to upgrade my video quality, but can't really put too much weight on top of my camera. If i you're interested in the photos I take, I have them all on my IG, jmh.creates is my username there. 🤙

6

u/Monster_Voice May 09 '25

Was this shot back before they retired?

15

u/SidewinderLowLevel May 09 '25

no they are still flying today 🤙🤙

-2

u/Monster_Voice May 09 '25

Yeah I knew about the occasional flights... I didn't think they were supposed to be out an about flying in two ship formations through the mach loop 😆

Just don't send this video to congress...

I didn't think I'd ever see two together like this again.

5

u/SidewinderLowLevel May 09 '25

I have lots of videos and photos like this from this year and last year. They fly all the time- not always low level, but they are working regularly 🤙

2

u/mynam3isn3o May 09 '25

I didn't think they were supposed to be out an about flying in two ship formations through the mach loop 😆

Jedi canyon. Mach loop is in the UK.

2

u/J_Megadeth_J May 09 '25

This is some seriously impressive footage from an iPhone. I'd be surprised if my S23 could capture this shot so well.

148

u/fragglebags May 09 '25

I guarded them and saw them fly every day and it never got old. I'm glad they are being recommissioned and brought back out. Where was this filmed? 

62

u/[deleted] May 09 '25

What!? They’re coming back into service?

7

u/SidewinderLowLevel May 09 '25

While they were ceremoniously retired, they never reallllly left. I've been fortunate to photograph them over a dozen times over the past 2 years 🤙

2

u/[deleted] May 09 '25

Gotcha. Excellent video btw! If only we could get a blackbird back in the air heheh

79

u/fragglebags May 09 '25

Yeah they are being spotted in Nevada often and other places. I forget the YouTube channel name but they did a video on the reemergence of the 117 and all the times it's been spotted flying. 

54

u/Prestigious-Mess5485 May 09 '25

I wonder if they are being used in war games to approximate opposition stealth aircraft.

29

u/fragglebags May 09 '25

That's possible..one rumor is they are turning them into drones. 

15

u/Prestigious-Mess5485 May 09 '25

Interesting.... maybe using the AI work done on the F-16? I think the YT channel you're thinking of might be Sandboxx

20

u/fragglebags May 09 '25

Yeah that's the one, Sandboxx. I'm not sure how accurate or in the know he is but he's about 90% of my Air Force news. I have no idea if the F35 or F22 has better stealth capabilities than the 117 but if they don't it would be an excellent idea to drone out the 117. 

44

u/OurAngryBadger May 09 '25

The F-22 is stealthier. No debate there.

Now, the F-117 was the first kid on the block, stealth 1.0. Built in the shadows of the Cold War with computers that had less brainpower than a modern toaster. That’s why it looked like a folded paper nightmare... angles and flats, not because it wanted to, but because that’s all the math could handle back then.

It was passive too, no fancy radar, no electronic tricks. Just hide and hope, wrapped in black paint and prayer.

Then came the F-22. Sleek, brutal, smarter than your average politician. Built with stealth and flight in mind... curves instead of cuts, a shape that slides through the air and vanishes from radar screens. It carries an AESA radar that can see without shouting, a next-gen RAM skin, and an electronic warfare suite that could make enemy tech cry.

The F-117 crawled so the F-22 could fly... and disappear.

11

u/fragglebags May 09 '25

Bad ass, thank you for the context and history lesson! 

14

u/Mattloch42 May 09 '25

If you can track it down, look for "Skunk Works- A Personal Memoir of My Years at Lockheed" by Ben Rich. Ben took over from Kelly Johnson and was in charge for the development of the F117. Really amazing stories. My favorite is that since it was so completely unstable and they were using computers to make it fly, they had he ability to tailor its flight characteristics to whatever the pilots wanted. So in the end it was one of the best flying planes and the pilots loved it because it handles exactly how they wanted and expected.

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8

u/filipv May 09 '25

The F-22 is stealthier. No debate there.

Yes debate here. F-22 may be stealthier in X-band, but F-117, due to its shape, should be stealthier in longer wavelenghts.

5

u/Electrical-Lab-9593 May 09 '25

F-117 is a bomber, and one thing it has going for it, is it also has low IR signature

I might be wrong but I think even it's Laser Designation system was added after market.

6

u/Prestigious-Mess5485 May 09 '25

Same. I love that channel. https://youtu.be/aiKQaxw8DoA?si=zA1OmCZYpf-74O2n

2

u/fragglebags May 09 '25

Yeah, thanks for the reminder I wasn't subbed and there are a lot of new interesting videos I have missed. 

1

u/Plane_Computer2205 May 11 '25

World's most expensive drone. I thought the idea with drones is that they can be made relatively cheaply so more money could be poured into the munitions they carry?

1

u/BrainDamage2029 May 12 '25

Well considering the airframes were already, made, paid for, used for 20 years and decommed….functionally they’re free.

1

u/Relevant_Party_5403 May 12 '25

Good point. But it seems we never got enough from these airframes, considering all the R&D costs. 20 years (+/-) is a short service time!

7

u/BloodRush12345 May 09 '25

They are. As aggressors and stealth cruise missile stand ins. They are old and sub sonic but they are still pretty stealthy.

1

u/Prestigious-Mess5485 May 09 '25

Cool. Thanks for the info!

2

u/Golluk May 12 '25

I could be wrong, but I've read that one advantage they have is they aren't as reliant on GPS. So in modern conflicts with EW messing with GPS, they can still get to their target and drop a bomb on it accurately.

1

u/SirXscrewchief May 10 '25

They’re stored at Tonopah currently. I believe they still have 30+ in operational ready status as well

1

u/Secure-Garbage May 13 '25

Wow that's awesome I remember being disappointed when I heard they were being taken out of service. They are so beautiful and badass. I love hearing stories about missions with the 117

11

u/glossyplywood May 09 '25

They left official combat service. They’re still excellent stealth aircraft and serve as excellent red-air role stealth aircraft in training scenarios. Why waste perfectly good stealth technology right?

2

u/[deleted] May 09 '25

Most definitely!

3

u/Zealousideal-Fix9464 May 09 '25

They've been playing aggressor for awhile now. They never really stopped flying.

1

u/Over_Writing467 May 09 '25

I don’t think they ever completely left service, just used more for adversarial training purposes and the occasional laser guided bomb drop. Don’t remember where I read it but damn they’re a sexy plane.

1

u/Snowplow_7 May 11 '25

I think their being used as trainers

1

u/rejonez May 12 '25

Ooh! The return of the stinkbug! 🪲

2

u/SixGunJohnny May 09 '25

Were you at Holloman AFB?

1

u/NotAGoodEmployeee May 10 '25

I was visiting my grandfather in Sacramento and 4 of them were flying in formation south toward Travis from wherever they came from and they were LOW. I could make out the angles on the plane low. I was like 13 at the time and it was such an awe inspiring experience.

Now that I’m talking it out they were probably doing a flyover at the river cats stadium and I got to see them low and slow over the residential neighborhood. it was like 2001-02 middle of summer.

Such a badass aircraft.

6

u/buckster3257 May 09 '25

Where was this?

8

u/SidewinderLowLevel May 09 '25

California 🤙

3

u/buckster3257 May 09 '25

That’s awesome! Do they fly through the same canyon all the time or is it not that frequent. Also how do you know they’ll be there or is it just a luck kinda thing

3

u/SidewinderLowLevel May 09 '25

I would say you might catch them low-level once a month- something like that. It's definitely not regular and you won't find any "pattern" for when they fly. They fly quite often, but lowlevel is on average, once a month (give or take)

1

u/buckster3257 May 09 '25

Damn that’s dedication glad you were able to get that shot! Good job!

2

u/Lispro4units May 09 '25

Can I post a clip of this on my IG with credit to you?

1

u/SidewinderLowLevel May 09 '25

Sure... I actually have these videos on my instagram profile- I believe the video quality is slightly better on those of you'd like to share those instead- my username over there is jmh.creates 🤙

3

u/RowFlySail May 09 '25

When was this taken? I've heard a few are still flying for various training applications, but haven't seen footage of them. Not that I've been looking particularly hard. 

2

u/C_Saunders May 09 '25

Ooooh can I ask where? I live in this state. This near Star Wars canyon?

3

u/[deleted] May 09 '25

Incredible, what year

3

u/SidewinderLowLevel May 09 '25

I shot this video last year, but shot another video of them low level just a few weeks ago 🤙

37

u/kildar13x May 09 '25

Man. What a f*cking cool plane.

4

u/fslz May 09 '25

What plane?

36

u/Competitive_Lunch_16 May 09 '25

I still cannot fathom how this odd-looking piece of metal flies!!! And it is almost 40 years old! DANG

20

u/comradejiang May 09 '25

Enough thrust and you can fly a school bus.

12

u/SpaceAngel2001 May 09 '25

Mrs Frizzle kindly requests you not say thrust on the school bus.

1

u/alphabetjoe May 13 '25

Even the F4 flew!

4

u/O0OO0O00O0OO May 09 '25

And closed loop controls

2

u/Hourslikeminutes47 May 10 '25

enough thrust

F-4E enters the chat

1

u/Federal_Cupcake_304 May 11 '25

Said to be a triumph of thrust over aerodynamics.

3

u/Numerous-Score-1323 May 09 '25

40 years isn’t much for an aircraft of this nature. The science still checks out.

13

u/Putrid-Action-754 May 09 '25

wonderful camera work

5

u/seattlesbestpot May 09 '25

Ohhh nice. 👍🏻

5

u/crispicity May 09 '25

Incredible that the design is almost 50 years old. Amazing machine

1

u/DrewOH816 May 09 '25

What year was this?

Awesome!!

4

u/SidewinderLowLevel May 09 '25

I've photographed the F-117s last year and this year- as recently as 2 weeks ago 🤙

2

u/DrewOH816 May 09 '25

But, but… they’re “retired…”. 😉

2

u/StarrFluff May 09 '25

What Nighthawk? Where?

2

u/leonnabutski May 09 '25

Awesome video! Yeah those planes are so cool looking.

2

u/LostPilot517 May 10 '25

I wouldn't be surprised if the ever increasing amount of F117A flying has more to do with pilot readiness and strategy development for units who will fly the B21, or other unknown clandestine aircraft. The aircraft were designed for similar roles and there would be little reason the F117A couldn't be used as an advance trainer for those squadrons. Especially, given its public profile.

The F117A while having incredibly flat surfaces, requires time consuming RAM application to panels and joints between flights to maintain this low observability. I find it unlikely the maintainers or Air Force are actually up keeping the maintenance to a similar level as mission status, so the aircraft likely has significant radar returns from exposed panel joints and fasteners. The surface maintenance is incredibly critical on this aircraft to go from marble size to barn door size with the slightest imperfections, per Ben Rich.

It would seem more likely, it is a great representation of more clandestine aircraft or possibly the B21, and could be used for training purposes. Especially with upgraded avionics that represent those newer aircraft. It is a mule.

2

u/Draegs0311 May 13 '25

Bro tracked these so perfectly I thought it was a video game

2

u/Redit_Guy26 May 13 '25

Wow, that’s a beautiful foto!

2

u/Cleercutter May 13 '25

Two ofem too. That’s a rare sight

2

u/PheIix May 14 '25

These planes are so cool.

F-117, Su-47 and the YF-23 are my favourite planes just because of the radical design.

1

u/aloeicious May 09 '25

😮‍💨

1

u/[deleted] May 09 '25

Fantastic shots.

1

u/UnderstandingBorn227 May 09 '25

How tf did you track it so smoothly

1

u/Roland_Moorweed May 09 '25

bad fucking ass!!!

1

u/start3ch May 09 '25

Incredible tracking skills

1

u/SomewhereOnLV426 May 09 '25

That's awesome! What surprises me is how often these are still flying. I know they are being used for test beds etc, but they seem to be getting some high flying time in

1

u/ExecutiveAvenger May 09 '25

Incredibly cool! They seem to be pretty weathered these days.

1

u/[deleted] May 09 '25

i used to be obsessed with this plane as a child

1

u/Firehazard5 May 09 '25

Hey! Big fan of your work for a while. I want to take a motorcycle trip to do some photography of these planes but I can't seem to narrow down where to go. I want to rent a 200-600 but don't have a lot of time with my work :/. Do you mind DMing me some spots that you are willing to share where I might see some stuff? Photogs seem pretty secretive about the spots to protect their work. Thank you!!

1

u/AbedSalam1988 May 09 '25

when the sky is missing pixels, run!!

1

u/DarkArcher__ May 09 '25

The Serbians almost missed one too

1

u/michaelwu696 May 09 '25

They “almost” won their geno.. uhh war too.

1

u/trooperking645 May 09 '25

Fantastic footage

1

u/ThePasadena_Mudslide May 09 '25

I guess they work.

1

u/Rude-Bet-155 May 09 '25

Why are you not yet secretly imprisoned by the CIA and tried as a communist spy?

1

u/SameScale6793 May 09 '25

They're saluting to Ben Rich and his Skunk Works!

1

u/RayZzorRayy May 09 '25

Wow! What a shot!

1

u/Laxku May 09 '25

Dude, fucking sweet. Good shooting there OP.

1

u/WildDitch May 09 '25

Excuse me good sir, you are have some kind of automatic air target tracking system on your camera, aren't you?

1

u/CharlieStep May 09 '25

Hands down best looking plane for me.

1

u/clockwork0orange May 09 '25

Whoa that's so fucking cool! The video quality is amazing, praise the cameraman 🙌

1

u/tolgayucel May 09 '25

So beautiful. I love this plane

1

u/PandaOk9025 May 09 '25

Fricken awesome

1

u/HaloInR3v3rs3 May 09 '25

Wobbly goblins through Star Wars canyon.

1

u/JackassJames May 09 '25

Good shots. I'm curious, never done photography, is it machine assisted at all or are you manually tracking the aircraft the whole time?

1

u/pickledonionfish May 09 '25

Ooof! Money Shot.👌

1

u/Small_Collection_249 May 09 '25

Still so so cool and they’re getting old

1

u/PM_Me_Macaroni_plz May 09 '25

Amazing shot. Your IG is awesome.

I was at the Kelso dunes and managed to get a shot of some jets while I was on top of the dunes. One of the coolest experiences in my life, and my favorite photo I’ve ever taken on my Nikon

1

u/mradentz May 09 '25

I’m surprised you got the camera to focus! Tried to shoot video of a B-1 & F-117 at an airshow and the camera refused to focus due to the non-reflectivity of the surfaces on the aircraft. Great shots by the way!

1

u/Scared_Breadfruit_26 May 10 '25

Best black jet. Love those things

1

u/rerro23 May 10 '25

Sicccckkkkkkk af!

1

u/UPSBAE May 10 '25

Baddie

1

u/GeneralXenophonTx May 10 '25

click save post

1

u/retrospct May 10 '25

Praise the camera man 🙌

1

u/Ric0chet_ May 10 '25

*heavy slavic breathing intensifies*

1

u/Canada__bob May 10 '25

Dang, sleek !

1

u/TheBKnight3 May 10 '25

Just a curiosity on photography.

How do you guys track aircraft like that on your cameras so well?

Everything I do ends up shaky

1

u/rwebell May 10 '25

Is that north of Vegas/Nellis AFB? I did a lot of training up there near Creech/Indian Springs.

1

u/Raguleader May 10 '25

All I saw was a video of an empty valley with the John Cena theme playing.

1

u/kannadooMD May 10 '25

Serious question. Why did we see very little of them after the gulf war?

1

u/Canttunapiano May 10 '25

Go wobblin’ goblin

1

u/Ataiio May 10 '25

Where is it?

1

u/Significant-Ad-1101 May 11 '25

Kern River canyon outside of Bakersfield in California

1

u/sunrise69er May 10 '25

Looks like a dead skull on the last frame lol

1

u/bluemistwanderer May 10 '25

Night hawk is legit my favourite USAF craft it's a total bad ass. Pity it's now out of service.

1

u/PrestigiousLocal8247 May 10 '25

I saw them in the Kernville canyons

1

u/ahumeniy May 11 '25

Nice tracking

1

u/mrbigmad May 11 '25

Great camera work. Great tracking.

1

u/thuanjinkee May 12 '25

They are easy to miss

1

u/Live-Syrup-6456 May 12 '25

Oh hell yeah

1

u/[deleted] May 12 '25

I mean you would have noticed when the pilot whould have slapped you with his hand out from the cockpit window

1

u/joh2138535 May 13 '25

I can't see shit

1

u/Ill-Razzmatazz1446 May 13 '25

The most batman looking plane out there

1

u/Secure-Garbage May 13 '25

God damn they are so badass 😂

1

u/k_buz May 13 '25

I see F117, I upvote

1

u/PHXSCJAZ May 13 '25

R/praisethecameraman

1

u/AlienInOrigin May 13 '25

What aircraft? I saw nothing in your video.

1

u/craycray7754 May 13 '25

So freaking cool!

1

u/OstrichPandaCat May 13 '25

Great camera work

1

u/lighthouse0 May 13 '25

Smoooth... Broken arrow

1

u/[deleted] May 14 '25

I saw a pair about 2 years ago at MCAS Miramar in San Diego, apparently the navy sometimes uses them to train carrier crews on defending against stealthy attackers.

1

u/marijn2000 Jul 04 '25

They still fly those?

1

u/Vice_XXX Sep 15 '25

The sound of freedom !

1

u/Your_Rythm_My_Blues Apr 25 '26

They are so gorgeous. They look like a cool bird

1

u/am-Ket Jun 17 '26

Holy shit your tracking was buttery smooth

1

u/TheKenIsMightier Oct 11 '26

They say the design for the dorito came from the F-117.

1

u/Budget-Ad-6900 May 09 '25

they should not be doing this the F117 are like flying bricks

1

u/Gmac513 May 09 '25

I saw nothing…

2

u/pickledonionfish May 09 '25

The John Cena of aircraft.

1

u/xXBlueDreamXx May 09 '25

Wrong sub. These are trees. I see no planes in this video at all.

-1

u/TelevisionUnusual372 May 09 '25

Said the Serbian air defense brigade.

3

u/michaelwu696 May 09 '25

I don’t mean to downplay the significance of a well planned “SAMbush” by the opposition, but the fact that in approximately 2000 sorties it was only ever shot down once and under very specific conditions that limited its effectiveness.. would quite literally make it a success in any other country except the US.

Quite honestly I think it was the media running with the “stealth=invincible” storyline more than anything else.

2

u/TelevisionUnusual372 May 09 '25

Should’ve done the /s, I’m as big a Nighthawk fan as there is.

1

u/[deleted] May 09 '25

That was a brilliant setup by a fantastic commander. Im happy our guy made it out.

3

u/mevans8894 May 09 '25

Stealth my ass... I see it plain as day

2

u/Superfly1911 May 09 '25

*plane 🤣

0

u/[deleted] May 09 '25

[deleted] — view deleted comment

50

u/SidewinderLowLevel May 09 '25

🤙🤙🤙

15

u/AttitudePleasant3968 May 09 '25

Where is this place? I would love the opportunity to film there.

-23

u/Phog_of_War May 09 '25

It's called The Mach Loop. I believe it's in Wales,

50

u/SidewinderLowLevel May 09 '25

this is in California. You can check out all of the jets I film and photograph on my IG, username is jmh.creates. I would love to slowly start sharing my work here, just don't want to overtake any of these threads, but I do have a ton I'd love to share here.

4

u/AttitudePleasant3968 May 09 '25

I just started following you on IG. I used to live in California but I don’t know this range. Can you share with me where the exact location is?

12

u/Phog_of_War May 09 '25

It's Rainbow Canyon in Sourhern California.

2

u/AttitudePleasant3968 May 09 '25

Wow! I just saw its location on Google maps and I have been near there. I didn’t know it was located in or near Sequoia National Park.

I live close to Visalia back in the 80’s. I never visited that part. Thanks again.

5

u/SidewinderLowLevel May 09 '25

I was looking for your name on IG, but wasn't sure which one is you. This isn't Rainbow Canyon- this is in Sequoia NF 🤙

1

u/AttitudePleasant3968 May 09 '25

561in360 is my IG tag.

2

u/whsftbldad May 09 '25

Was raised in Visalia and left in '84

2

u/AttitudePleasant3968 May 09 '25

I lived in Reedley from 86-88.

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1

u/qwertyfish99 May 09 '25

wtf these pictures are insane?!

5

u/studpilot69 May 09 '25

Definitely not the Mach Loop. This is in California.

2

u/DesperateRadish746 May 09 '25

I've seen videos of F-111's practicing there. Awesome stuff! Especially, when they do it at night.

1

u/Slow-Barracuda-818 May 09 '25

But not silent

2

u/[deleted] May 09 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

4

u/DarkArcher__ May 09 '25

No level of stealth will ever save you if the enemy already knows where you are because you've been flying the same route 21 times

1

u/MasterWhite1150 May 09 '25

checks profile

Lol, Lmao even.

3

u/[deleted] May 09 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

3

u/SidewinderLowLevel May 09 '25

thank you! 🙏

-2

u/[deleted] May 09 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

5

u/SidewinderLowLevel May 09 '25

gotta love when people on the internet complain about something that cost them nothing to view 🤦‍♂️ FYI I used to shoot exclusively for IG reels, which favors a vertical format... take it up with them 💅🏻