Why the F-117 Retired in 2008 Is Still Flying in 2026 (16 Are in Museums)

The Air Force retired the F-117 Nighthawk in April 2008, with a ceremony and a promise that every one would be locked in a climate-controlled barn at Tonopah. Then black jets started landing at Fresno, Savannah and Alaska, refuelling over Los Angeles, and Lockheed got a maintenance contract that runs to 2034. Sixty-four were built. About forty-five are still in the barns, and the Air Force will not say how many fly. This is why: the secret years at Groom Lake and Tonopah, Panama and Baghdad, the night Zoltán Dani's missile battalion brought one down over Serbia and the pilot who later became his friend, the one word Congress wrote into the retirement law, the Dark Knights, and the sixteen you can see, including the Overachiever arriving at the Smithsonian this month. MID-ROLL BREAKS (set manually): 1:45 · 4:20 · 6:30 · 8:20 Chapters 0:00 Fresno, 13 September 2021 0:55 Seven years in the dark 1:50 Panama, Baghdad, Dora Farms 3:10 Belgrade: the night Vega 31 went down 4:40 Retirement, and the word "recallable" 5:40 The barns at Tonopah 6:40 Why the Dark Knights still fly 7:50 The sixteen you can see, and what they cost 9:00 Why it never retired Sources include U.S. Air Force fact… 📎 SOURCES & CREDITS (used in this video) YouTube: • Two F-117s training at Fresno, September 2021 (4K) — The-Helicopter-King — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UfUGaH6dNCs • F-117 Nighthawk flying at Sentry Savannah, 2022 — The-Helicopter-King — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NsxB8wk-keY • Guided tour around the F-117 Nighthawk — PaulStewartAviation — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5Jssn7JWm4 • The last stealth fighters, Palmdale, 21–22 April 2008 — GoletaBrian — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-HepqzXBBg • F-117 wreck, Belgrade Aviation Museum — LIKWID — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPW2VYnCHi0 • Last flight of the F-117s, 2008 — Tomwaski — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Av2f-wPtfE • F-117 arrives, May 2023 — JS75181 — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=slcWvDVcL40 • F-117 Nighthawk arrival, SAC & Aerospace Museum — SACAerospaceMuseum — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuY7H8pJkk0 • F-117 Nighthawk walkaround, National Museum of the USAF — RyanG-Aviation — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zHVODCgtPE • F-117 orbit, National Museum of the USAF — bert0land — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wu6Wc4BWYbk Wikimedia Commons: • F-117 (837318961).jpg — allen watkin from London, UK (CC BY-SA 2.0), via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:F-117_(837318961).jpg • F-117 Grey Dragon.jpg — Airman 1st Class Vanessa LaBoy (Public domain), via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:F-117_Grey_Dragon.jpg • Stealth fighter.JPG — ErgoSum88 (Public domain), via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Stealth_fighter.JPG • DF-ST-91-03322 (5375285623).jpg — US Air Force from USA (Public domain), via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:DF-ST-91-03322_(5375285623).jpg • 230510-F-XA488-1027 - F-117 Nighthawks arrive at JBER for Northern Edge 23-1.jpg — Sheila deVera (Public domain), via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:230510-F-XA488-1027_-_F-117_Nighthawks_arrive_at_JBER_for_Northern_Edge_23-1.jpg • Lockheed F-117 NightHawk - Miramar 01.jpg — Catalan (CC BY-SA 3.0), via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lockheed_F-117_NightHawk_-_Miramar_01.jpg • Lockheed F-117A Nighthawk 79-10781 GBU-10A Paveway II Cold War NMUSAF 26Sep09 (14413518150).jpg — Valder137 (CC BY 2.0), via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lockheed_F-117A_Nighthawk_79-10781_GBU-10A_Paveway_II_Cold_War_NMUSAF_26Sep09_(14413518150).jpg • Lockheed F-117A Nighthawk 79-10780 Camo.jpg — United States Air Force (Public domain), via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lockheed_F-117A_Nighthawk_79-10780_Camo.jpg • Lockheed F-117A Nighthawk 81-10796.jpg — United States Air Force (Public domain), via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lockheed_F-117A_Nighthawk_81-10796.jpg • F-117 Taxi.jpg — The original uploader was Koalorka at English Wikipedia . ( Original text: SSGT JASON COLBERT ) (Public domain), via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:F-117_Taxi.jpg • US Air Force 071022-f-5717s-001 F-117A take off.jpg — U.S. Air Force photo/Airman 1st Class Jamal Sutter (Public domain), via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:US_Air_Force_071022-f-5717s-001_F-117A_take_off.jpg • Defense.gov News Photo 971119-F-6145M-004.jpg — Senior Airman Roberta McDonald, U.S. Air Force (Public domain), via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Defense.gov_News_Photo_971119-F-6145M-004.jpg All footage, images and recordings belong to their respective owners and are used under their stated licenses or as fair-use commentary/education. Contact us for credit updates or removal.