Can radar detect a plane made of wood?

On History channel there was a show saying that Hitler made the first stealth planes. The planes were said to have been wood.


I didn't watch the entire show just the ending. So there may have been other factors that would have made the plane stealth but would a plane made of wood be detected by radar?|||Yes it can. Stealth does not imply invisible to radar, it implies being less detectable.





Regardless, it had nothing to do with the wood being invisible to radar. Modern stealth fighters are made out of metals and designed using angles that make them less reflective of radar, then coated in paint that amplifies this effect.





Edit:





It really has a lot to do with the shape of the aircraft. If you look at the second link posted below it's pretty informative.





Yes radar is "old crap" but still very useful and very much in use.





And stealth aircraft have both flat surface AND angles.








Here is something about radar absorbing paint, full article on wikipedia:





Iron ball paint





One of the most commonly known types of RAM is iron ball paint. It contains tiny spheres coated with carbonyl iron or ferrite. Radar waves induce molecular oscillations from the alternating magnetic field in this paint, which leads to conversion of the radar energy into heat. The heat is then transferred to the aircraft and dissipated.





The iron particles in the paint are obtained by decomposition of iron pentacarbonyl and may contain traces of carbon, oxygen and nitrogen.[citation needed]





A related type of RAM consists of neoprene polymer sheets with ferrite grains or carbon black particles (containing about 30% of crystalline graphite) embedded in the polymer matrix. The tiles were used on early versions of the F-117A Nighthawk, although more recent models use painted RAM. The painting of the F-117 is done by industrial robots with the plane covered in tiles glued to the fuselage and the remaining gaps filled with iron ball paint.[citation needed]





The United States Air Force introduced a radar absorbent paint made from both ferrofluidic and non-magnetic substances. By reducing the reflection of electromagnetic waves, this material helps to reduce the visibility of RAM painted aircraft on radar.[citation needed]





More on stealth tech at the second link below|||Materials such as metal are strongly radar reflective and tend to produce strong signals. Wood and cloth (such as portions of planes used be commonly to made) or plastic and fibreglass are less reflective or indeed transparent to RADAR making them suitable for radomes. Even a very thin layer of metal can make an object strongly radar reflective.





Also, some devices are designed to be RADAR active, such as RADAR antennae and this will increase RCS.


RADAR absorbent paint





The SR-71 Blackbird and other planes were painted with a special "iron ball paint". This consisted of small metallic-coated balls. RADAR energy is converted to heat rather than being reflected.|||Wood is only 2%-3% as visible as metal to radar. The problem is I never saw a wooden engine. So while a wooden airplane would be less visible modern radars are so sensitive that the radar signature of the engine would still be visible from a great distance, perhaps a hundred miles or more depending on size.|||Wood planes would be less detectable, but not invisible.


You'd still need metal wiring and engine components that would


show up on radar.


Early radar used longer wavelengths than modern sets and couldn't


see the 'smaller pieces' as well.|||Yes, not a big RADAR signature because some of the RF energy is "lost" in the material. One of the reasons our plywood gliders were fairly successful in WW2.|||Well; it's no big secret that Late World War I I German radar had a bytch of a time picking out deHavilland Mosquitos.|||Radar is old crap. It dosent matter what your flying cuz they can look in your cockpit window and count the hairs on your chin with satellites. Stealth acft/boats are shaped to deflect radar, not absorb it.Thats why they look so weird. Flat surfaces reflect, angles skip it off.