Richardson, was one of those original
cadre Raptor pilots, handpicked for
DIOT&E. ‘Participating in the F-22 DIOT&E
programme was probably the highlight
of my entire 24-year career,’ he told this
publication. ‘I was one of eight pilots —
with ‘Banger’ Newton and I being the
two youngest with about ve years of
operational ying under our belts. Every
one of us was a Weapons School graduate.
I remember that everyone involved with
the program was pulling their weight and
a whole lot more, and that I’d better pedal
fast or I’d be left behind!’
An o cial USAF board, chaired by the
commander of Air Combat Command,
came up with the list of the eight pilots
for the initial USAF Raptor evaluation. All
were Weapons School graduates, most
were F-15C pilots, though there was one
F-16 pilot and one F-15E pilot — the latter
being Col Niemi.
‘There was no formal training program
to qualify us in the F-22 since we were the
rst non-test pilots to y it,’ he explains.
‘For our academic training on the aircraft’s
systems, we critically reviewed the coursetucked away at Edwards AFB. As the type
came into service and started spreading its
wings, it became clear that halting Raptor
production had been a huge mistake.REALISING THE POTENTIAL
A handpicked team of pilots was
assembled for the important Dedicated
Initial Operational Test and Evaluation
(DIOT&E) of the F-22. The pilots started ying the jet in 2003, some having
come from operational test as opposed
to development test backgrounds. In
addition, younger pilots straight out of
Weapons School were included in the
team in order to bring a more squadron-
representative look at the new kid on
the block.
Col Chris ‘Moto’ Niemi, now Commander
of the 3rd Wing at Joint Base Elmendorf-Left: Maintainers
from the 27th
Fighter Squadron
inspect the side
weapons bay of
one of the rst
jets to arrive
at Joint-Base
Langley-Eustis.
USAF/SSgt V. Levi
Collins
Below:
Maintainers
load inert AIM-
120 AMRAAMs
onto F-22s at
Elmendorf. USAF/
Amn Ty-Rico Lea
Right: A1C John
Grimes of the
525th Aircraft
Maintenance
Unit Weapons
Flight, guides an
AIM-120 into the
main weapons
bay. USAF/TSgt
Dana Rosso(^30) RAPTOR
28-37 Niemi and Service C.indd 30 28/09/2017 14:51