Brian Gaff wrote:

Ohf course, the first stealth fighter was the De Haviland Mosquito in WW2,
made of wood so it would not show on the primitive radar of the time.



Actually, the wooden construction was primarily to build an aircraft
without making excessive demands on strategically critical metals while
at the same time letting the British woodworking industry be used in the
war effort- subassemblies could be made in scattered woodworking
factories to let the aircraft's production be less vulnerable to German
bombing. The stealth was a unforeseen benefit AFAIK.
During W.W. I , the Germans experimented with fabric-covered aircraft
where the framework was painted silver-gray to match the sky, and the
covering material was transparent Cellon plastic. The idea was that the
aircraft would achieve low visibility by being largely transparent;
ground gunners would look right through it!
It never worked out though- the Cellon got soggy, heavy, and loose in
wet weather, and reflected sunlight like a mirror on sunny days; the
crew had a hard time seeing out of the aircraft due to internal
condensation of humidity on the plastic.

Pat