2026-05-02 00:52 UTC
If you're an #avgeek, I'm sure you've heard that the reason the F-117 Stealth Fighter was so angular was that computers couldn't calculate the radar signature of complex shapes. This the guy who wrote that code and ran those simulations in the 1970s, creating the modern stealth aircraft from seemingly unrelated maths developed by Maxwell in the late 1800s.
https://www.airandspaceforces.com/denys-overholser-stealth-pioneer-whose-work-led-to-the-f-117-dies-at-86/
Replies (3)
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@c_merriweather@social.linux.pizza 2026-05-02 05:19
@simonbp@social.linux.pizza Let us also give credit to the SR-71 Blackbird. First flight, 1964. Official "release," 1966.
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@phredmoyer@hachyderm.io 2026-05-02 01:22
@simonbp@social.linux.pizza @miden the method of edge diffraction something something. A nice Russian paper this was also based on.
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@PenguinToot@twit.social 2026-05-03 16:54
@simonbp@social.linux.pizza @AirlineReporter@avgeek.social Wow, great story about an aircraft pioneer I never heard of. Thanks for sharing.