Northrop F-23 Black Widow I
Northrop/McDonnell Douglas YF-23 Black Widow I

The first prototype, 87-800 (N23IYF reserved, but not used) was rolled out at Edwards AFB on 22 June 1990. The first flight was achieved on 27 August 1990 powered by P&W YF119s. The first air refuelling was achieved on the fourth sortie, on 14 September 1990. Mach 1.43 ‘supercruise’ was achieved on 18 September 1990 (the fifth sortie). The first use of afterburner was on the sixth sortie, on 21 September 1990. An altitude of almost 50,000ft was reached on 25 September 1990 (seventh sortie), and the final flight was on 30 November 1990. A total of 34 sorties/43hr.

The second prototype, 87-801 (N232YF reserved, but not used) had GE F120 powerplants, and had a first flight at Edwards 26 October 1990. ‘Supercruise’ in excess of Mach 1.6 was achieved on 29 November 1990. The final flight was made on 18 December 1990 after a total of 16 sorties/22 hrs.

The YF-23 had achieved Mach 1.8 at 50,000ft (15,240m) in afterburner. No missile launches were made, and no thrust vectoring was used. The aircraft were in storage at Edwards AFB from December 1990.

YF-23
Engines: 2 x Pratt & Whitney YF119-PW-100, 155.7kN with afterburner
Max take-off weight: 29030 kg / 64001 lb
Empty weight: 16783 kg / 37000 lb
Wing span 43ft 7.25in / 13.29m
Length overall 67ft 4.75in / 20.54m
Height overall 13ft 10.75in / 4.24m
Wing area: 87.8 sq.m / 945.07 sq ft
Max. speed: 2080 km/h / 1292 mph
Ceiling: 19800 m / 64950 ft
Range: 1200 km / 746 miles
Crew: 1

Northrop/McDonnell Douglas YF-23 Black Widow II