Another Nighthawk reveals itself

One of our Scramble Magazine editors analysed some Lockheed Martin F-117A Nighthawk photographs recently made by aviation friend Ivan Voukadinov.

Participating in the Northern Lightning 23 exercise and returning from an afternoon mission as "NIGHT01" flight, consisting of two Nighthawks, to Duluth Air National Guard Base (MN), one of them revealed itself.

Strikingly, one (former) pilot's name on the F-117A canopy read "Lt. Col. Ken 'Tot' Tatum". Apparently, this pilot was one of 27 that achieved the 1.000 flight hours barrier on the Nighthawk and had his "own" aircraft back in 2007. Investigating the TR coded tail thoroughly, it clearly states 809 and "9FS".

In the past, Lt. Col. Kenneth Tatum was the 9th Fighter Squadron commander. This, in combination with the "9FS" commander's aircraft, is corresponding with F-117A and its serial number 84-0809.

More about F-117A serial numbers can be found in our extensive USAF database.

Photos by Ivan Voukadinov