Okay, credit on this one goes to Caine; he suggested the subject for this week’s quiz. I’m afraid it might be a bit too easy, though! Then again, you never know 'til you find out…
Please submit replies via the email button below or in my profile. And again, do not post answers in this thread; not serious ones, anyway! [:p]
The answer next Thursday-ish.
If anyone knows where I can find some decent photos of this aircraft (other than the usual 3-4 publicity shots) please email me.
I think I have seen this subject mentioned recently on one of the other threads…we shall see who has been paying attention. [swg] It should be fairly easy for the big airplane buffs…I’ll try to think of a tougher one in the future.
Actually, it was a buncha little dudes with domes over their heads and they were yelling, “onck, onck, onck, onck!!!”
Nevermind… [sigh]
Anyhoo, glad ya’ll like the quizzes. And Caine, I owe you an apology. 'Tisn’t as easy as I thought it was, apparently. So far this one seems to be throwing most folks for a loop. [;)] Only one correct reply so far…
If you’ve submitted your answer for Quiz #4, please do so again. I may have accidentally deleted one email, I’m not totally sure. But I’d rather be safe than sorry. Thanks…
This aircraft was a technology demonstrator which broke new ground in the areas of aircraft design, development and manufacture as well as low-observables technology. It flew from 1992 to 1999, making a total of 38 flights. It’s now on permanent display at the USAF Museum at Wright-Patt.
There’s relatively little info out there regarding the Bird of Prey, especially on the web. What’s out there is mostly rehash or speculation. Here’s a link to a page on the Boeing website.
The most common response, by far, was the Boeing X-45 UCAV. One reply was that of X-45 UCAV ‘Bird of Prey’, which I did not count as correct because the X-45 and the Bird of Prey are two totally different aircraft.
Here’s some more photos of both:
Bird of Prey
This is the project patch which caused much speculation during the 90’s as to what the ‘Bird of Prey’ actually was. One idea was a forward-swept variable-geometry winged aircraft! You can see the inspiration for this idea in the handle and hilt of the sword, but in fact you can also see the general planform of the actual aircraft itself.
Well, you coulda fooled me! It sure LOOKED like a UCAV from below, ESPECIALLY with the sun obscuring the silhouette somewhat. Kind of a TRICK picture, doncha think, blackwolf??
Trick picture? Well, if you say so. [:p] I admit I look for stuff that’s gonna cause confusion.
When Caine suggested this subject, I was hesitant 'cuz all I’ve ever seen are the same four or five shots on every website. And I figured ya’ll would have seen them.
I looked high and low for a shot that was different than the most common publicity stills; and since this is from below and doesn’t show the cockpit I figured some may mistake it for the X-45. And that’s exactly what happened! (hehe)
Although, to me, they look completely different. Similar, yes. But only vaguely. Oh well.