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F-22, fighter of the future, set to scream into Tucson
Arizona Daily Star ^ | Feb 26, 2006 | Carol Ann Alaimo

Posted on 02/26/2006 7:12:29 AM PST by SandRat

The newest bird in the Air Force fleet — and one of the noisiest — will make its Tucson debut next weekend. The F-22 Raptor, a sleek and supersonic stealth jet that's more advanced than any other in Air Force history, will be among dozens of new and vintage warplanes in town to train for the 2006 air- show season.

Two or three of the futuristic fighters will touch down during the annual Heritage Flight Conference at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, a three-day event that allows pilots to practice formation flying for eight to nine hours a day. It's part of the certification process to perform on the air-show circuit.

The training conference runs from Friday through Sunday.

To military aircraft enthusiasts, the Raptor's arrival is cause for ooh-ing and aah-ing.

"The F-22 is a pretty spectacular bit of technology," said Scott Marchand, director of collections and aircraft restoration at the Pima Air and Space Museum. The radar-defeating aircraft, which cost about $130 million apiece, came into service three months ago, so recently that few civilians have ever seen one in flight.

"This is a rare chance to get a sneak peek at the next generation of air-dominance fighters," Marchand said. The F-22 "is a much noisier airplane" than the A-10 attack jets that typically fly above Tucson, Marchand noted.

And the Raptor also has much more advanced capabilities, such as the ability to cruise at supersonic speed without afterburners, and sophisticated sensors that allow the pilot to track, identify and shoot a threat before it detects the F-22. But some Tucsonans concerned about military-jet noise see the extra flights as an added headache and safety risk.

National security requirements are one thing. Practicing for air shows is another, said Daniel Patterson, city planning commissioner.

"I'm not sure it's appropriate to have all these additional overflights in a big city. It seems like it would be more appropriate for a remote location," said Patterson, who is also a co-chairman of Tucsonans for Quality of Life, a citizens group concerned about the environmental impact of the air base.

He said the air-show training heaps one more aggravation onto residents already negatively affected by things like extra helicopter flights and on-again, off-again night training at D-M.

Col. Michael Isherwood, D-M's vice commander, said he doesn't expect a major increase in noise because the F-22 is not at full power when flying in formation.

According to an Air Force noise study, an F-22 flying 500 feet above ground level sounds about the same as a chain saw operating nearby.

About 40 aircraft will take part in the training sessions, including historic warplanes such as the World War II-era P-51 Mustang and the F-86 Sabre, which was flown during the Korean War.

While the training flights will be visible to city residents, the event is not open to the public.

Marchand said a prime viewing spot is the parking lot of the air museum, 6000 E. Valencia Road, between South Wilmot Road and Interstate 10.


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; US: Arizona
KEYWORDS: airshow; f22; f22raptor; fighter; future; raptor; scream; tucson; usaf; wahmypuyhurts
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To: NaughtiusMaximus
My grandfather's best friend was a Spanish American War vet and lived in Seligman his whole life. As a boy I went with him to visit the gentleman many times. He finally went to the Veterans facility in Flagstaff and lived out his last few years there, the early 50's. I remember the facility but not too much about the town. I do remember it was very small at that time and it was a beautiful area. It's a small world.
41 posted on 02/26/2006 9:27:07 AM PST by jazusamo (:Gregory was riled while Hume smiled:)
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To: SandRat

Thats not noise...it is the sound of freedom....


42 posted on 02/26/2006 9:34:18 AM PST by thinking
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To: Publius6961
Nope, right person, just failed to note that Publius and Patterson both start with a P...
My comments were toward Mr Peterson and his little snit over having moved into a neighborhood already graced with a noisy airfield.

For my part, I have trouble sleeping unless I can hear trains or aircraft.

43 posted on 02/26/2006 9:50:30 AM PST by norton
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To: mad_as_he$$
MITO
Minimum Interval Take Off
44 posted on 02/26/2006 9:52:22 AM PST by norton
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To: operation clinton cleanup
"...F-104's and when the took off, you could literally feel it in your gut."

Visit your local B-1 base sometime.

45 posted on 02/26/2006 9:54:29 AM PST by norton
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To: norton
Alas, I have never been up close and personal with a B-1... one of life's disappointments!
46 posted on 02/26/2006 9:59:04 AM PST by operation clinton cleanup
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To: RayChuang88
I wonder if any will go to Eglin AFB. The reason I wonder is I saw an account in a classroom history lesson that nearly all the air to air victories in Iraq were from Eglin.

I told the prof that my Grandfather had worked there and he said they were generally rated as the best wing in the air force.

47 posted on 02/26/2006 10:01:16 AM PST by Shanda
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To: NaughtiusMaximus
Let's defund NPR, PBS, the National Endowment for the Arts, etc., buy about 500 of these elegant machines, and let them train constantly above liberal enclaves.

Oh I do like the way you think! I would vote for your presidency just based on this. :o)

48 posted on 02/26/2006 10:12:41 AM PST by daybreakcoming (If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher. A. Lincoln)
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To: SandRat
"...said Patterson, who is also a co-chairman of Tucsonans for Quality of Life, a citizens group concerned about the environmental impact of the air base"

Yeah, slick. Shut that base down, then......and watch the effect on your local economy, nimrod (absolutely guarantee he's a Democrat).

Talk about yer "environmental impact"........

49 posted on 02/26/2006 10:24:55 AM PST by RightOnline
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To: SandRat

And remember, the YF-22 was half a mach slower than one of the tested versions of the YF-23, and also had significantly higher RCS than the YF-23.


50 posted on 02/26/2006 10:27:23 AM PST by Donald Meaker (You don't drive a car looking through the rear view mirror, but you do practice politics that way.)
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To: bnelson44

Eglin too probably.


51 posted on 02/26/2006 10:29:50 AM PST by ChinaThreat (s)
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To: operation clinton cleanup

It's not an AF plane but the Harrier has to be the nosiest jet there is. IMO


52 posted on 02/26/2006 10:35:54 AM PST by Veloxherc (To go up pull back, to go down pull back all the way.)
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To: null and void

Gee, I wonder why people buy houses in a flight path?

When they buy them, the lower price is more important than the noise. After they get the benefit of a lower price, it is to their benefit to get the flight path moved, so they get the benefit of property value increase.

That is why Air Bases should be large enough so the land includes both the runways and much of the flight path associated with the runway.


53 posted on 02/26/2006 10:38:22 AM PST by Donald Meaker (You don't drive a car looking through the rear view mirror, but you do practice politics that way.)
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To: Donald Meaker

Correct, but as Mark Twain observed. "Invest in land. They aren't making it anymore"...


54 posted on 02/26/2006 10:45:18 AM PST by null and void (Imagine what they would be doing if it wasn't a religion of peace!!!)
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To: null and void

guess you haven't been to Holland lately. The Dutchmen make their own land!


55 posted on 02/26/2006 10:54:52 AM PST by Donald Meaker (You don't drive a car looking through the rear view mirror, but you do practice politics that way.)
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To: Publius6961
Attending grad school at U of A many years ago, planes taking off from D-M would sometimes interrupt classes. Liberal professors postured by shaking their fists skyward but most of us were grateful for the few seconds of relief from the BS in their lectures.
56 posted on 02/26/2006 10:59:28 AM PST by hinckley buzzard
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To: El Gato
Then I read about some dingbat moaning about extra formation training being noisy. Once upon a time it was called the "sound of freedom". To many of us it still is. Then they compare the sound to a "nearby" (how nearby?) chainsaw, when the jet is 500 feet away. They won't be flying down that low much, and certainly not over the city, except of course when coming in to land or taking off. The sound diminishes by 6 dB for each doubling of the distance.

These are same ding-a-lings that had homes, schools, businesses, community centers, you name it around a military base and then have the Gaul to complain about overflights, noise, worry about safety, artillery noise, sounds from the small arms ranges and well as worry falsely about stray rounds, etc., had this at every military installation that I've lived at over a 20+ year military career. Tucson is a leftie moonbat center in Arizona second only to Bisbee. The writer of the article is the only staffer that does a fairly decent job of covering stories on the military in what we refer to as the Arizona Red Star as it so caters to the MoonBats.

57 posted on 02/26/2006 11:01:01 AM PST by SandRat (Duty, Honor, Country. What else needs to be said?)
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To: null and void
"I'm not sure it's appropriate to have all these additional overflights in a big city. It seems like it would be more appropriate for a remote location,"

I have to agree with him there. Far better that any training accidents happen over open desert.

When D-M opened it was 45 miles outside of town in open desert. The city has encroached on the safety zones and grown right up tight to the base and surrounded it. The real tough training of the pilots takes place at the Goldwater Range by Yuma, touch-n-gos take place for the most part at Libby Army Airfield at Ft. Huachuca 75 miles distant. It should also be noted these same moonbats don't complain one wit about the commercial aircraft coming in or leaving Tucson International Airport using nearly identical air corridors.

58 posted on 02/26/2006 11:06:34 AM PST by SandRat (Duty, Honor, Country. What else needs to be said?)
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To: yoe
Notice they don't complain about TIA with nearly identical approach patterns. The latest crop of California moonbats that have begun settling in Goodyear in new homes encroaching on Luke are also beginning to mouth the same trash.
59 posted on 02/26/2006 11:10:41 AM PST by SandRat (Duty, Honor, Country. What else needs to be said?)
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To: tanknetter
In times of trouble and not before GOD and the soldier all men adore,

Yet when the wrong is righted and the trouble ore,

GOD is forgotten and the old soldier slighted.

Also from Rudyard Kipling.

60 posted on 02/26/2006 11:13:20 AM PST by SandRat (Duty, Honor, Country. What else needs to be said?)
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