This is a first look at Boeing's Bird Of Prey. April Fools' Day is a long way off so this should be genuine



The full article can be found at Popular Science .

Looked rather nasty, man. Really looked kinda like a bird....

There are more pics at the website Dave. It really looks like a Klingon Bird Of Prey from Star Trek

Boeing's press release.

Beyond2000

Well guys and gals, it looks as if the days of Fine line beautiful aircarft are over. These new planes just don't have the character and graceful lines the older planes do. I hate to say it, but I don't think my modeling days will be occupied by things that look like this one. Should be in Star Wars or Star Trek.

My thoughts exactly Mavrick.Im really gonna miss the beauties of the skies such as the F-14 and F-4s once there ALL gone and replaced with these things.Looks like a friggin vulture to me.

No panel lines, no seams, more filling and sanding required to model these things. Give me a good old Corsair or Tomcat anytime.

Where's my flyswatter!

Actually, I would probably model one if it comes out. I agree, it's not pretty, but neither are several of the planes I build. The F-117 is down right ugly, but I see models of it all the time. It is an effective machine, and it has earned its place in military history. I think the prettiest planes were from WWII or Korea, or the early cold war period, but I tend to model all eras. Besides, it's still prettier than a Warthog, or Frogfoot! (Two more of my favorite modeling subjects BTW.)

Prettier than a Warthog?????????!!!!!!!!HAVE YOU GONE CRAZY MAN!!!!!??????I love the A-10s looks.Down right gruesome looking,you cant get any better that that for its combat role.

Maybe, after all the other group builds are done, we can do an "Ugliest Aircraft Group Build". We could let our wives, girlfriends or moms pick out the ugliest plane in a stack and build it. I think I would get the Nighthawk since my girl almost swatted my 1/144 model thinking it was a cockroach

Now thats original lol.

Love it or hate it, it is going to be available in resin later in the year. 1/72 scale from Unicraft. I have never built one of their kits before, ,but they claim to be for experienced modelers only! Here's their link, (I hope)

Unicraft

I don't have any connection with them, but they have some really interesting stuff. Lots of prototypes, testbeds, drawingboard stuff, and most of the new U.S. unmanned drones. I am thinking of trying one of their projects.

Dave (So many kits, So little time!)

I don't know about earning a place in history. Maybe a place in the military, but history? Not Everyone is so worried about stealth. Hell I don't recall too many Nations out there that can hit what we have now. We tend to lose more to ourselves than to the so called enemy. And how the in world are you going to have a dog fight with something that niether side can see? Oh well, there goes the neighborhood. Real planes real men to fly 'em. Hey Capt. Zach, Could you imagine the Blue Angels flying something like that? What a joke, would look like a scene out of Independence Day

Bah,everyone is going to have to rethink wth they have done once they have new aircraft for the Blue Angels and the Thunderbirds.I mean really,who in the hech is going to have a stealthy,multi-million dollar plane for a exhibition team?

Um, where do the weapon loads go?

:::Boeing designers read the above comment and say "Darn! I knew we forgot something!"...
#:-)

YodaMan

like yoda man said....WHERES THE FIRE POWER I wana see some guns on these planes ..... But if the plane kills without being killed its a sucess

This thing is so ugly, it starts to look good ! (am I making sense here ? )
I like this baby !

I know what we can do with it. We'll sell them to other countries and let them figure out how to arm them. It can't be very fast either, not big enough for a good engine, and not much room for fuel . I guess this one will guard the airbase it is stationed at.

Popular Science Update Article

I think we have forgotten that this bird is still a prototype...they ususally don't have anything on them! I'll have to pipe in with Jan here, it is so ugly it is sweet... won't see it coming either...

I guess radar will have to be replaced with some far reaching IR....

No IR on this baby. Hard to see in daylight too.

Yeah I guess you may be right. No IR signature to speak of. That brings my thoughts to what can be used for far-reaching early warning systems if the radar signature gets minimalized?? I guess if satilites were used for radar too they could look at an area at the same time giving a good guess as to where and what everything is... I know they are used for this in some degree, but not radar in the usual sense...

Kinda gets us thinking: this is a decade-old black project. It's undetectable by current radar and IR and Mark I eyeball technology . Who knows what lurks under other black projects? How will they be detected? By throwing rocks at them and listening for thuds?

I think may results to long range hearing detaction just as in WW II, but more sophiscated I think. Can't really make these baby quiet, right?

Ah the last good war was Korean war, whilst everything just shoort honest and straight...now just too many technologies....