vertical we call out those gate altitudes
on the radio. He gets a valid response
from me and he can continue with the
manoeuvre. If I heard an altitude that was
too low, I’d tell him to abort and recover
and he would execute that and we’d talk
about it afterwards.’
Even for the trained demo pilot, there’s
always a safety observer on the ground.
‘In order to y the demonstration I
have to be in two-way contact with
another quali ed F-22 demo team safety
observer who is watching the display.
For example, on take-o I go straight up
into the vertical. The gate altitude for that
is 3,500ft and the minimum altitude is
above 3,000ft — so as long as I call above
3,000ft the safety observer replies ‘good
numbers’ and at that point I’ll continue
the manoeuvre. If someone called 2,900ft
they’d reply ‘abort, recover’. At that point
the pilot would execute a wings-level
recovery. We run that challenge andresponse exercise on everything that
goes through the vertical or goes over
the top inverted.’
This practise of challenge and response
is a safety feature that has been adopted
across all ACC demo teams. It gives the
pilot an additional set of eyes to help
ensure the safe execution of the display.
For the Raptor and it’s aggressive thrust-
vectoring show, it’s a very important part
of the overall routine.
While the true strength of the F-22 lies
well away from the gaze of the airshow
audience — being a silent, long-range
killer is its forte — the demonstration
does showcase its incredible agility in
the close-in dog ght. ‘The demo only
shows o a small part of what makes this
jet a fth-generation aircraft. The most
feared aircraft in the skies mainly comes
thanks to stealth, speed and avionics
— that’s what makes it so incredible.
But if you then throw in the advanced‘THE DEMO
ONLY SHOWS
OFF A SMALL
PART OF WHAT
MAKES THIS JET A
FIFTH GENERATION
AIRCRAFT. THE
MOST FEARED
AIRCRAFT IN THE
SKIES MAINLY
COMES THANKS
TO STEALTH,
SPEED AND
AVIONICS’
MAJ DAN ‘ROCK’ DICKINSON
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