“Tacit Blue” a 1980’s Stealth Plane—the Ugliest Ever?

One of the old saws in aviation is that well designed airplanes are intrinsically beautiful, but sometimes this rule is violated, and the early 1980’s Tacit Blue may be one of the best examples. Northrop's “Whale” demonstrator was part of the early days of stealth technology. Tacit Blue provided a revolutionary constant feed of near real-time intelligence over the areas it surveilled. The first airframe was partially-built and moved from Northrop's Hawthorne plant to Area...