Skunk Works SECRETS Revealed! | An Exclusive Interview with F-117 Test Pilot Hal Farley

F-117a Nighthawk First Flight Chief Test Pilot Hal Farley history documentary & Air force high tech stealth engineering aviation technology story. Hal explains the history of Skunk Works and tells of his involvement with the program. This information has been declassified under the "Freedom of Information Act".

About Hal Farley:
Hal Farley, Director Flight Operations and Chief Test Pilot, Lockheed Martin's Skunk Works (Retired).
Farley joined the Skunk Works as Project Pilot for the Top Secret Stealth Fighter Program. He flew the first flight and logged over 600 hours in the F-117A.
He served in the Navy from 1959 to 1967 and Grumman Aircraft from 1967 to 1979. He was assigned to VA-164 flying A-4 aircraft aboard the USS Oriskany. Farley attended the Navy Test Pilot School and was assigned to Carrier Suitability performing tests on the F-4, F-8, A-4, A-6, and RA-5C. He then joined Grumman, testing the A-6 and F-14 Tomcat accumulating over 900 hours in the Tomcat.
He is a Fellow in the Society of Experimental Test Pilots. He has 30 years of flying experience. 5700 hours, 3600 of which were flight tests in fighter or attack aircraft. He is the recipient of the Ivan C Kincheloe award and the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Octave Chanute Award both for work on the F-117A.
He was inducted into the Oklahoma Aviation and Space Hall of Fame.
In 2002 he and his wife Ellen completed an 8-year voyage around the world in their 44ft sailboat AIRBORNE.

This video is published courtesy of John Farr, the Producer & Director of
Creative Media Group

#f117 #nighthawk #skunkworks

[brightbleu]

I fell down the F-117 rabbit hole and eventually landed here. What a thoroughly enjoyable interview! It could have been twice as long, Hal is so easy to listen to, I appreciate his knowledge and candor.

[chrisw]

My Dad was Grumman's head of Product Training for the F-14 in the '70's. One of his favorite stories he'd tell us was Chuck Yeager's test flight in the X-29. Hal probably knew him. He passed away last year.

[kinch]

I was very proud to have been assigned to the F-117s and the 37 TFW Nighthawks at Tonopah Test Range ( TTR). It was quite a honor as a young airman to be hand selected out of SAC and taken to Las Vegas. The struggle on family as a young husband was real. It probable cost me my marriage but looking back, it was a sacrifice well worth it to advance my part in stealth technology. We really did “ own the night”!

[wmffmw]

My father ran Grummans Flight Test from 1941-1964. Hal and Corky worked for him. Later, following Apollo, Dad became the F-14 Project Manager. I met Corky on several occasions growing up. Mostly at Grummans annual pick-nicks. He became instrumental to my becoming a pilot. By the time Hal went to work for my father, indirectly, I had gone into the Air Force, unfortunately we never met. I became an F4E Pilot.

[evanacey]

The F117 is still to this day easily the coolest looking airplane I’ve ever seen in my life.

[gary]

As a desk manager just outside an AFB in Texas, we were honored to host several of the SR-71 pilots, great bunch of guys, fabulous plane.

[bustatron]

This man was undoubtedly a genius of our times, tough to think of another person in any industry with such vision and technical knowhow.... But what really sets him apart is the insanity of the delivery times - a new tech aircraft in 6 months? It's bonkers to think about if you've ever been involved in design... Complex designs, let alone cutting edge, take enormous amounts of time and he somehow got these out in less than a year. Amazing.

[augustasmccray]

I work for Raytheon but I have worked on 3 projects with lockeed. It has been the highlight of my career. Defending our nation with blue collar determination. 🇺🇲

[thomasharroun]

The Skunk Works program typically gets credit for changing history long after they actually change history. The Skunk Works has won 6 Collier Trophies.

[keefer]

I love how he shared those 3 first flights between the 117, 22 and 35. That's a real Chief and leader.

[mark_]

Kelly was one in a billion. The kind of man that made his nation the greatest on earth.

[muzzaball]

Absolutely brilliant doco about a man, his visions and his abilities, which have been proven over time to exceed everything that was around before, and in some cases, still today.
Well done Kelly Johnson - a true legend amongst visionaries and aeronautical engineers alike.

[roberttalbot]

This is the absolute best video that I've ever seen on the "Skunk Works".

[kandaboy]

I really enjoyed listening to this guy. The background info, the history and technical information delivered in an "on the scene" understanding. Appreciate the advice on honesty 👌

[andreasmetzner]

This simply has to be the best comprehensive look at the evolution of an indivual who conquered many aeronautical hurdles, with amazing talented induviduals by his side. thank you for producing this documentry...again thank you!

[Habu]

Great video! I worked on the flight simulator for the F-117 at Link and it was just as described. There were customers and Lockheed. Funny thing was, the customer people were the same people that worked on the B-52 simulator, so many people in the building knew who they were. But there was never any discussion with them because they were just “the customer”. Spent some time flying the simulator during change of shift between 2nd and 3rd shift
, it was fun times!

[-STYLE]

A pleasure to be a part of this great conglomerate and to carry out this legacy.

[happydays]

So, THAT is what my Dad was wanting to see. In 1979, approximately, maybe early eighties, we drove from Las Vegas to Palm Springs area, and out there, he made me drive while he did the strangest thing. He sat back, put sunglasses on and stared straight up. I was like, okay, Dad's getting weird, but I was busy driving. He was also always making paper airplanes with us kids, and they weren't like anybody else's paper airplanes, lol. They'd have flaps and ailerons and were weighted precisely and came in different styles which he would identify. He was a pilot, obviously. If, in the seventies, if you were hit by a paper airplane that appeared to be very well made, I'd like to apologize for that.

[TAM-gztc]

What a great man. The speed and accuracy of his work was remarkable.

[TheGreg]

Just watched the first half hour so far and it's very interesting to watch such a unique interview, it's fairly rare people involved with these secret programs do any interviews. Thanks DroneScapes, very cool!