[Dillinger]

Okay guys - I don't know how many of you have been following the new F/A-22 Raptop - but here she is, and she gives me goose bumps all over.

FIRST FA-22 FIGHTERS DELIVERED TO LANGLEY

These are great in-flight Photos of the F/A-22 as the first aircraft delivery was being made to Langley AFB in VA. Langley is to be first operational AFB for the F/A-22. It is a very beautiful AFB, located in a picturesque location, as you can see in these photos, near Norfolk and Hampton, Va.

The Aircraft flying along with the F/A-22 in the last of these photos is the F-15, which will be replaced by the F/A-22. The F/A-22 is several times better than the F-15, as proven in head to head competition.

In an actual In-flight (simulated) Combat Operation against the F-15, two F/A-22s were able to operate without detection while it went Head to Head against (8) F-15s. The F/A-22s scored Missile Hits (Kills) against all the
F-15 Aircraft and the F/A-22s were never Detected by either the F-15s or Ground Based Radar.

Maj. Gen. Rick Lewis said: "The Raptor Operated against All Adversaries with Virtual Impunity; Ground Based Systems Couldn't Engage and NO Adversary Aircraft Survived!" He Continued...

"They're a titanium and carbon fiber dagger. They're so advanced that if their on-board locator is switched off even our own satellites can lose track of them."

"They're the first military aircraft ever built that is equipped with a 'black-out button'. What that means is this... The best conditioned fighter pilots are capable of maintaining consciousness up to, the vicinity of, 15 + G. The Raptor is capable of making 22+ G turns. If some day an adversary builds a missile that is capable of catching up to one of these airplanes and a Raptor pilot sees that a strike is imminent, he hits the 'b.o.b.' and the airplane makes a virtual U-turn, leaving the missile to pass right on by.

They know that in the process he'll temporarily lose consciousness, so the Raptor then automatically comes back to straight and level flight until he wakes back up. "

Pretty amazing hardware - Chaulk up one more for the good guys!

JD

[fapprez]

I'll be sad to see the F15 go to the wayside. I've always loved that plane. However, the introduction of the F/A22 WILL make it much more easy to let go. What a sexy piece of aircraft!! Thanks for sharing, Dillinger.

[bkt]

Originally Posted by fapprez

I'll be sad to see the F15 go to the wayside. I've always loved that plane. However, the introduction of the F/A22 WILL make it much more easy to let go. What a sexy piece of aircraft!! Thanks for sharing, Dillinger.

+1. I was pretty bummed when they retired the F-14.

[Boris]

First delivery due I think 2011..........they are superb I have been nursing the mock-up at the international airshows for the last few years.

[Dillinger]

According to my contact, who got these from his brother stationed at Langley, these babies are there now and being put through the paces. Definitely one hot piece of engineering though...

JD

[RL357Mag]

My Dad's company bid on 37 simulators for the F-22a back in 1999. They modified one of our F-16 sims at Wright Patt. AFB's "skunk works" to "test fly" the F-22a using computer generated imagery when it was still in it's development stages. It is strictly 'fly-by-wire' and had many control-surface sensitivity problems. Flight training for the F-22 is more intense than for any other fighter to date. The original F-22 model which was simulated at Wright Patt. had no horizontal stabilizer. Apparently according to the pictures however, they added one, which is probably how they ironed out all the problems with control stability. Back in 1999 they wanted to ship our simulators to several NATO countries and conduct flight and combat training between allied nations via satellite transmission. I don't know why this government is so bent on sharing it's technology...

[Dillinger]

Probably for the same reason we share our food, our money, our natural resources, and our military in times of need. We are supposed to be the lone "good guys" on the block. Remember?

JD

[RL357Mag]

I can almost see that reasoning in non-military issues, but after Clinton gave away our missile guidance technology to the Chinese I would have thought we would learn a valuable lesson...

[Dillinger]

^ Agreed. You would have thought we would have learned our lesson. You would also think we would have learned our lesson about trying to help opposed and victimized peoples after Vietnam, but then here we are in Iraq and again we have a majority of the US Citizenry claiming we shouldn't be there and we should pull out.

It would appear that History does indeed repeat itself....Time and time again...

JD

[MrRemmy]

What an awesome plane. Australia is doing away with our current fleet of F-111's and replacing them with the F-35 lightning II JSF. I read somewhere that we were looking at buying the F-22, but we chose the F-35 instead. Apparently not the best decision.