And It Doesn't Melt In the Rain  B-2 Goes Public  By , Staff
writer of The Christian Science Monitor  As the nation's
patchwork green heartland slips away beneath its signature bat-
shaped body, the B-2 bomber slices through roiling winds to an
altitude of 26,000 feet with the grace of a hawk riding a summer
thermal.  Sunlight glints off its slate gray skin as the radar-
eluding aircraft edges up toward the tail of a KC-10 fuel
tanker. The B-2's massive172-foot wingspan pushes before it a
huge "bow wave" of air that buffets the larger jet.  Latching
onto the KC-10's refueling boom, the supersecret bomber quickly
gulps hundreds of gallons of high-octane kerosene. Satiated in
minutes, it unhooks, drops away, and banks out of sight at 460
miles per hour.  Recommended: Could you pass a US citizenship
test?  "Aerial refueling is probably the hardest part of flying
the aircraft," says Capt. Eric Sanger, a B-2 pilot instructor.
"But it's so aerodynamic, it's an easy aircraft to fly."  Back
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