Roger that...
Posted on 01/08/2005 5:48:14 PM PST by iso
TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE -- (AP) -- Five more F/A-22 Raptors landed Friday at this Florida Panhandle base where Gen. John P. Jumper, Air Force chief of staff, is among the first pilots being trained to fly the new stealth fighter.
The five Raptors arrived from the Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co. plant in Marietta, Ga., a day after all F/A-22s were cleared to resume flying for the first time since a Dec. 20 crash at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev.
The additional planes increased the number of Raptors at Tyndall to 18, more than half of the 33 now in the Air Force inventory. A 34th plane had been scheduled to arrive but its flight was postponed due to mechanical problems, said Capt. Susan A. Romano, a Tyndall spokeswoman.
Jumper is scheduled to make his final F/A-22 qualification flight here Wednesday.
The planes were grounded as a precaution after the Nellis crash. Safety and accident investigation boards have not disclosed a cause, but Air Force officials said they were confident the jets could be flown safely based on preliminary findings. The pilot suffered scrapes but was otherwise unharmed.
Eight F/A-22s are stationed at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., and seven at Nellis for testing and evaluation. All pilot training is done at Tyndall. Langley Air Force Base, Va., is expected to receive the first operational Raptors this year.
Me too.
All the bases along the coast train out over the Gulf, unless they're dropping stuff on Eglin. Locals are understanding about the bombs on the range, but prefer the window rattling sonic booms are done over the Gulf. :)
And the current plan is to replace it with the JSF.
We do JSF too!
I am accustomed to seeing the other fighters overhead, usually in twos or threes.....just curious as to why I haven't seen the F/A-22's.
I knew someone would take that slant on it. Some people don't like ordering others to do what they could not do. Jumper is by all reports a very good pilot.
My goes to
ME262
F14
P51
In that order
Hope we don't get another a-hole who gives away the technology.
Stealth is sexy.
P-38 was great but it was like driving a milk truck compared to the Spitfire.
The models don't contain any more information about the capabilities of the aircraft, nor how it achieves them, than photographs. I'm sure they are made from photographs, not the engineering drawings.
Roger that...
My Niece used to date a pilot from Eglin. He once told me the First Fighter Wing (Langley) was known by other pilots as the "Worst Fighter Wing".
Perhaps--in the air today. And the F-22 is certanly technologically advanced.
But if you give points for being "ahead of its time", I say no aircraft will ever be "sexier" than the F-104, designed 50 years ago.
This Lockheed fighter was designed by the famous Skunkworks under Kelly Johnson at Lockheed. Its famous wing (or lack of; it was so thin it was like a knife) and technological breakthroughs made this aircraft a quantum leap ahead of others in technological advances. And it looked damned good to, nicknamed officially the "Starfighter" but known to pilots as the "missile with a man in it". 
"And the current plan is to replace it with the JSF."
F35. It will be VTO capable and make anything else on the planet look like a piece of shit.
In fact there is a highway that runs right through Tyndall AFB. Highway 98, which passes pretty close to the flight line and runways. The pattern extends over much of Panama City and Panama City Beach.
I was down there installing some software modifications as part of the capability upgrade to the Schoolhouse required to accommodate the F-22 about a year ago.
Except the A-10 is more like a flying HumVee.
Only the Marine and Brit (and maybe some other exports) versions. The Navy will have a carrier capable version, but it will use cats and arresting wires. The Air Force version will be strictly CTOL.
It offers the pilot alot more protection than a Hummer offers it's driver. Maybe the M-1 is a better comparison... :)
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