American Notes AIR FORCE

The U.S. Air Force is so secretive about its radar-invisible Stealth fighter that it refused to acknowledge the plane existed even when one crashed in California two years ago. Yet when a covey of U.S.A.F. pilots converged in Washington last week for an Air Force Association symposium, shop talk indicated that the Stealth has a nickname. Pilots who fly the plane out of the Tonopah, Nev., Air Force base find it so tricky they call it the "Wobbly Goblin." Onboard computers are supposed to control the Stealth's performance, even at the highest speeds, but experts say the plane sometimes "gets away" from the pilot, who then has to take over manually -- and earn his wings all over again.