New Ulm native Scott Stimpert, a former pilot of the F-117, poses with his F-117 Nighthawk Stealth Fighter on Dec. 7. The stealth fighter is on permanent exhibit at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum. (Photo by Gene Blevins. Photo courtesy Los Angeles Daily News)

SIMI VALLEY, Calif. — Retired Air Force Lt. Col. Scott Stimpert used to fly his F-117 Nighthawk stealth fighter undetected into enemy airspace over Iraq. No one was supposed to know about the top-secret aircraft.

Now, his stealth fighter is out in the open for all to see, on permanent display at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, Calif.

“It’s bittersweet, knowing it won’t fly again,” said Stimpert, the New Ulm native who was assigned the F-117 Nighthawk stealth fighter while it was still a secret aircraft. “But, I couldn’t imagine a better spot for it.”

Stimpert was raised in New Ulm and graduated from New Ulm High School in 1976, after which he was appointed to the Air Force Academy. He graduated in 1980 and began flying fighter jets.

He retired in 2000 as a Lt. Colonel. While a fighter pilot he flew 18 missions into Baghdad in the F117 Stealth Fighter.

The aircraft, Tail No. 803 and nicknamed “Unexpected Guest” was unveiled, Saturday, Dec. 7 at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum during the Reagan National Defense Forum.

Stimpert’s parents, Richard and Bobbie Stimpert, are living in Simi Valley, right below the Reagan Library.

Richard was Installation Manager at New Ulm TV Signal and Bobbie was an investments counselor and insurance agent at Furth Meile Insurance Agency.

In addition to Scott, the Stimperts have two other children, Chrys and Dan. Chrys passed away in 2002, but Dan is an attorney in Beverly Hills.

Scott now lives in New Hampshire with his wife Terri and their two children: Lauren, a lawyer in DC and Ryan, who lives at home with Scott and Terri.

The two-day forum, in its seventh year, brought together lawmakers, civilian officials and military leaders from the Department of Defense to discuss the state of the country’s national defense and to promote policies to strengthen the U.S. military.

The stealth fighter joins an F-14 fighter as part of the library’s permanent display, as a tribute to Pres. Ronald Reagan’s efforts to rebuild the nation’s defense. The plane flew 78 missions — more than all other F-117s combined.

It entered into service in May 1984, during the Reagan Administration.

The aircraft came to the library as a joint project between the Reagan Foundation & Institute and Lockheed Martin Skunk Works. Lockheed spent $1 million to restore the plane and the foundation spent $200,000 to install it as part of the library’s Peace Through Strength exhibit.

The unveiling included remarks from Gen. David Goldfein, chief of staff of the U.S. Air Force, who was the last pilot to fly the “Unexpected Guest” on a mission.

“You know you’re getting old when they put planes you actually flew on a pedestal,” Goldfein said to those gathered around the plane.

Only 558 pilots ever flew stealth fighters on missions, each pilot assigned a Bandit number upon their first flight, in the order they came to the airplane. The first operational pilot was Al Whitley, assigned Bandit 150. The number 150 was used to keep the enemy off-guard on the number of pilots.

Goldfein’s Bandit number was 708.

“I believe it stands today as the greatest secret our nation has kept,” he said. “It’s the only top-secret program I know of that had another top secret as a cover. My thought was that the secrecy would last two years tops. Who would have known it would maintain its secrecy for almost a decade.”

The F-117 Nighthawk was the world’s first operational stealth fighter, designed to evade radar as a sub-sonic aircraft. It was developed in response to a U.S. Air Force request for an aircraft capable of attacking high-value targets without being detected by enemy radar.

Known as a “stealth fighter,” the F-117’s angular shape was designed to reflect radar waves and was bolstered by the use of a radar-absorbing material. Because the aircraft’s mission was to do night precision strikes, it was painted black to make it more difficult to see against the night sky.

Pilots including Stimpert and Goldfein executed high-mission tasks and were responsible for both the work of the pilot and the weapons system operator.

Stimpert saw the stealth fighter’s full potential Jan. 17, 1991, flying it over Baghdad during the Gulf War.

“I know we’d seen tests where it worked but I hoped it really would,” he said. “The first real baptism by fire was the opening night of the Gulf War over Baghdad. We flew 1,300 total sorties (missions) and not one was struck.”

In all, Stimpert flew 500 hours in the stealth fighter between 1987 and 1991.

“This could be sitting in a hangar,” he said of the F-117. “It’s in a spot where people can come and see it. It couldn’t be a more fitting way to spend its last days.”

The fighter will be on display for the library’s half-million annual visitors.

(Information in this article comes from an article by Erika I. Ritchie of the| Orange County Register.)