410th Flight Test Squadron The 410th Flight Test Squadron ( 410 FTS ) is an inactive United States Air Force squadron . It was last assigned to the 412th Operations Group , stationed at Air Force Plant 42 , Palmdale Regional Airport , California . It was inactivated on 1 August 2008 . Overview . The squadron ' s primary mission throughout its lifetime was flight and acceptance testing of the F - 117A Nighthawk stealth fighter and the B - 1B Lancer bomber . Officially activated in March 1989 for B - 1B flight testing , the mission of the unit was changed in 1993 when the B - 1 testing was transferred to the 419th Flight Test Squadron and the squadron became the F - 117A test squadron , assuming the mission of an inactivated classified unit formed in 1980 at Groom Lake , Nevada ( Detachment 3 , Air Force Flight Test Center ) History . B - 1B Lancer testing . On 2 October 1981 , President Ronald Reagan announced a Strategic Modernization Program ( SMP ) , a key feature of which would be the procurement of 100 Long - Range Combat Aircraft ( LRCA ) . The LRCA would later be designated as the B - 1B Lancer . The first B - 1B ( 82 - 0001 ) was assembled largely by hand and incorporated several sub - assemblies of the No 5 B - 1A , which has been under construction when the B - 1A program was cancelled in 1977 by President Jimmy Carter . It was rolled out from the Rockwell International assembly plant at Plant 42 , Palmdale , California on 4 September 1984 . It flew for the first time on 31 October 1984 , crewed by Rockwell test pilots . It was a 3 - hour , 20 - minute flight which ended with a landing at Edwards AFB , California . The second aircraft was delivered on 7 July 1985 . The B - 1B was declared ready for delivery to the Strategic Air Command ( SAC ) barely eight months after its first flight . The initial B - 1B assignment was to the 4018th Combat Crew Training Squadron at Dyess AFB , Texas , which was activated on March 15 , 1985 . The first operational squadron was the 337th Bombardment Squadron . The 100th and last production aircraft was delivered to the Air Force on 2 May 1988 . At Edwards AFB , Air Force Systems Command formed and activated the 6510th Test Squadron on 10 March 1989 to provide operational testing of the B - 1B weapons systems , software and components . When the aircraft reached operational squadrons , many shortcomings were discovered . Testing of modifications by the 6510th TS included modifications of the low - altitude range of the aircraft , which it was discovered to be well short of its proposed maximum un - refueled range of 7455 miles . The modifications increased the range of the aircraft from 1 , 300 nautical miles to over 3 , 000 . Other modifications tested were problems with the terrain - following radar system , defensive avionics systems , fuel leaks , Central Integrated Test System , and F101 engine turbofan blade failures , which caused the grounding of the aircraft in December 1990 . B - 1 mission transferred to 419th Flight Test Squadron on 1 July 1991 and squadron ceased operations , however remained an active Air Force Systems Command organization . F - 117A testing . Groom Lake / Area 51 . In 1978 , the preliminary testing of the Have Blue stealth aircraft was successfully completed , and William Perry , Under - Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering in the Carter Administration , urged that the Air Force apply this technology to an operational aircraft . During November 1978 , Lockheed was awarded a go - ahead contract to begin full - scale development of the project . The program was classified Top Secret / Sensitive Compartmented Information ( TS / SCI ) ( i . e . , " Black project " ) , and the code name " SENIOR TREND " was applied to it . In 1980 , the SENIOR TREND Joint ( later Combined ) Test Force . ( Detachment 2 , R unit , 4450th Tactical Group ) was established at Detachment 3 , Air Force Flight Test Center consisting of a combination of Lockheed and USAF personnel as an acceptance test squadron for newly manufactured aircraft . Reportedly , after finding a large scorpion in their offices , the testing team adopted it as their mascot and dubbed themselves the " Baja Scorpions " and the scorpion symbol became the symbol of all F - 117A testing . In June 1981 , the first SENIOR TREND test aircraft ( F - 117 79 - 10780 ) ( FSD - 1 ) was delivered for testing . All deliveries of F - 117 aircraft to Groom Lake were made by a C - 5 Galaxy at night , with the aircraft offloaded and moved indoors to a hangar for final re - assembly . On 18 June 1981 the first successful flight was made by a Lockheed test pilot . During mid - 1981 and early 1982 , 10781 ( FSD - 2 ) , 10782 ( FSD - 3 ) , 10783 ( FSD - 4 ) and 10784 ( FSD - 5 ) were delivered to the Baja Scorpions for testing . There were usually four to six test flights ( about half contractor and half USAF ) for acceptance . They included systems checks , handling qualities evaluations , and low observable RADAR verifications . All flights of the aircraft were made at night without lights and the runway was only briefly illuminated to facilitate landings and takeoffs . The first production aircraft , 80 - 10785 was ready for its first flight on 20 April 1982 . However , unbeknownst to anyone , the fly - by - wire system had been hooked up incorrectly ( pitch was yaw and vice versa ) . Upon liftoff , the plane immediately went out of control . Instead of the nose pitching up , it went horizontal . The aircraft went inverted and ended up traveling backwards through the air . The pilot had no time to eject , and the aircraft flew into the ground . The aircraft was damaged beyond repair , but some of its parts could be salvaged . Additional production F - 117s were delivered during 1982 . With operational testing completed , the aircraft were delivered to the Tactical Air Command ( TAC ) 4450th Tactical Group ( 4450th TG ) which moved from Groom Lake to a new base at Tonopah Test Range Airport , Nevada in October 1983 where the plane could be brought up to operational readiness . On 11 July 1986 , 81 - 10792 flew into a mountain near Bakersfield , California . The pilot appeared to have made no attempt to eject and was killed instantly , his aircraft disintegrating upon impact . A recovery team was immediately dispatched to the crash site , and the entire area was cordoned off . Every identifiable piece of the crashed plane was found and removed from the area to prevent them from falling into the wrong hands . The doomed aircraft had reportedly carried a flight data recorder , which is unusual for a USAF fighter . To deceive the public about the wreck , the recovery crew had taken the remains of a crashed F - 101A Voodoo that had been at Groom Lake for over twenty years , broke them up , and scattered them throughout the area . Another accident occurred on 14 October 1987 when 83 - 0815 crashed in the Nellis range just east of Tonopah . Again , the pilot apparently made no attempt to eject , and was killed instantly . The official cause was never revealed , but fatigue and disorientation flying at night in almost total darkness may have both played a role . These two accidents , along with a need to better integrate the still - secret stealth fighter into its regular operations , forced the Air Force to consider flying the aircraft during daytime hours . This would in turn force the Air Force to reveal the existence of the aircraft . On 10 November 1988 , the long - rumored existence of the " F - 117 Stealth Sighter " was finally officially confirmed by the Pentagon . In 1990 the last F - 117A ( 88 - 0843 ) was delivered . and the flight test squadron no longer had to perform acceptance flights at Groom Lake of new F - 117A aircraft . However , the flight test duties still included flights for refurbished aircraft received from Lockheed . Palmdale . In February / March 1992 the nameless test unit moved from Groom Lake to Palmdale Plant 42 where Lockheed had produced the aircraft . Although most of the flight test activity ( the infrastructure ) moved from Groom Lake to Palmdale , some testing , especially RCS verification and other classified activity was still conducted at Groom Lake . There it came under the operational control of the Air Force Systems Command ( AFSC ) 2874th Test Squadron . The 2874th TS was soon re - designated as the 337th Test Squadron , With the establishment of Air Force Material Command ( AFMC ) , the 337th was directed to come under the operational control of the 412th Test Wing at Edwards AFB . In February 1993 , however , the test wing ' s Director of Operations proposed that the unit be established as the 410th Test Squadron . Headquarters AFMC agreed to this , and the " Baja Scorpions " test squadron was inactivated , it ' s personnel and equipment merged into the 410th on 1 March 1993 and the squadron resumed operations . Flight testing continued at Palmdale throughout the operational life of the F - 117 . Some of the 410th FLTS ' s accomplishments include providing support for contingency operations during Operation Just Cause in 1989 , Operation Desert Storm , Operation Allied Force and Operation Iraqi Freedom . On on 1 August 2008 , with the retirement of the F - 117 from the inventory , the last aircraft of the 410th was flown to Tonopah TRA for permanent storage and the unit was inactivated . Heraldry . Bendy sinister wavy Argent and Gules the cypher X bendwise in base Or garnished Azure between four piles diminished in point bendwise of the like , a canton bendwise sinister of the fourth semé of eleven mullets White , all within a diminished bordure Yellow . Approved on 9 Aug 1990 ( DFSC 91 - 02998 ) .