Buick-Powered Stealth Plane? The Amazing Lockheed YO-3 Quiet Star.

When we think of stealth aircraft, we usually focus on low radar-signature planes like the F-22 fighter or B-2 Stealth Bomber. But, in fact, stealthy technology encompasses much more. Most aircraft also produce a heat signature, a vapor trail and, of course, the generation of power produces noise. In 1966, the Lockheed corporation combined a Schweitzer 2-32 glider airframe, a Continental 0-200 engine and the muffler from a 1958 Buick to produce what was arguably the first stealth aircraft.This original design, the QT-2 (Quiet Thruster), eventually morphed into the production version, the YO-3 Quiet Star, which went on to gather intelligence for the U.S. military in the Mekong Delta of South Vietnam and then had a second act catching wild game poachers in the Mississippi Delta.Modified general aviation aircraft have been pressed into military service for a very long time. The Piper L-4 Grasshopper, Cessna O-1 Birddog and later the Cessna O-2 Skymaster all saw extensive action as artille...