Maj Dickinson
waves to the
crowds as he
taxies back to
parking after a
display.
Jamie Hunteroverall tally to around 1,060 ying hours
in the Raptor.
The role in the demo team is actually
a full-time commitment. ‘Typically, we’ll
be away at airshows for three of the four
weekends per month. We usually get back
to Langley on the Monday, take Tuesday
o , then maybe get a half-day Wednesday.
This is unique in that’s your primary job
as commander of the team. Back at the
squadron in between the display ying
I’m responsible for staying current, so I try
to y one or two combat training sorties
every couple of weeks.’FLYING THE DISPLAY
One of the most profoundly impressive
elements of the F-22 display routine
is the agility exhibited by such a large
aircraft. The thrust vectoring of the Pratt
& Whitney F119 engines, coupled with
the ight control system means the
aircraft can turn on the proverbial dime
— and it is regularly enveloped in clouds
of moisture on a damp day or if the
air is humid.
Incredibly, Maj Dickinson’s display
includes many sequences where the
aircraft is reefed into very hard turns andis literally ying post-stall and relying on
thrust and the cleverness of the ight
controls to maintain controlled ight. The
post-stall manoeuvring in the display is
what Maj Dickinson calls an ‘emphasis
item’. He says: ‘Pretty much any Raptor
pilot has executed these manoeuvres
at some point, but the big di erence
when it comes to the display is that
they haven’t done them down low to
the ground. Flying those manoeuvres
correctly and adhering to recovery
altitudes is given very high importance
during the training and workup.’
Becoming con dent in his or her
ability to safely execute these dynamic
manoeuvres close to the ground comes
during the upgrade ights in training,
and proving the ability to hit gate
altitudes. It starts out over the water on
the early trips where there’s margin for
error. ‘Over the air eld the gate altitudes
become paramount’, explains Maj
Dickinson. ‘For me as a safety observer on
the ground for the new pilot, a lot of my
work is visually assessing the altitudes.
He starts o over the eld with a 2,000ft
pad, a safety margin that we build
in. Plus, any time we go through theMaj Dickinson
tears into a high-
speed turn with
the F119s in full
reheat.
Jamie HunterRAPTOR^6764-71 Rock Display C.indd 67 28/09/2017 14:49