Blake Hall
A bird in hand is worth two in the bush. We’ve all heard this expression before. It ostensibly means that a certain smaller possession is worth more than a greater potential one.
The following bird however — the peregrine falcon — was worth so, so much more than two birds hanging out in a bush. It was worth billions — to the United States military.
Because the peregrine falcon, known also as the “duck hawk”, inspired the world-renown military aircraft depicted below: the Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit — one of the original “stealth” bombers.
Boasting a flying wing design with room for a crew of two, the B-2’s first flight came on July 17, 1989. Only 21 of them were made (they were manufactured from 1997 to 2000) and they didn’t come cheap: each one ran the U.S. government about $737 million a pop.
It’s like a Thanksgiving turkey bird — the heavier it is, the more you have to shell out.
This one happens to weigh about 158,000 pounds.