Aviation Specials — F-22 Raptor (2017)

F

ROM BEHIND THE oxygen mask

and dark-tinted helmet visor

comes a brief wave from the

pilot as a pump of the throttles

produces another distinctive

howl from the engines. Joining

his gang, looking and sounding like a pack

of hungry velociraptors, four of the world’s

most formidable air dominance fighters

are preparing for action. Control surfaces

limber up like stretching athletes. With their

bellies close to the ground, the hunched,

almost awkward jets gather in a huddle,

grunting and snarling.

Inside the air-conditioned serenity of

the cockpit, the pilot pores over four

large screens, already seeing how the

forthcoming aerial battle is shaping up. A

nod from the pack leader grabs his team’s

attention and a brief, discreet radio call

signals that it’s time for action. Bad guys

beware — the Raptors are coming.

When it comes to air dominance — or air

superiority, call it what you will — the US

Air Force has earned itself a pretty fearsome

reputation in recent times. It learned

quickly from the dark days of Vietnam,

clearly illustrated by the F-15 Eagle’s 104-0

kill ratio in more recent times. When the

F-22 Raptor came on the scene it took

that aerial prowess one step further. It was

perhaps inevitable that any opponents

would simply stay away, stealing the

Raptor’s thunder to some extent — it

doesn’t have an air-to-air kill to its name —

but also clearly proving a point.

‘One of the things that struck me was how

until we went kinetic in Syria, most people

said that the Raptor had never been used

in combat. That was a tough pill to swallow

looking at the personal sacrifices our

community has made being away on long

deployments’. Lt Col ‘Lobo’ has been flying

the F-22 for a decade and talks passionately

about the people and aircraft he led during

The 1st Fighter Wing at

Joint Base Langley-Eustis

led from the front when it

came to the F-22 Raptor,

bringing this revolutionary

fighter into US Air Force

service in 2005. The

demand for the wing’s

services remains as high

today as ever.

OF LANGLEY

LEGENDS

Sqn Ldr

‘Duzza’ leads

‘Micro’ flight

into a break

punching

out chaff and

flares. All

photos

Jamie Hunter

(^50) RAPTOR
unit report 1 st FIGHTER WING
50-63 1st FW C.indd 50 28/09/2017 14:49