|
The undisputed star of Royal International Air Tattoo 2008 was the UK and European display debut of the F-22A Raptor. The all new fighter aircraft has been on the US display circuit for over a year in the hands of Major Paul "Max" Moga and has been a big hit there. For 15 minutes on Friday 11th July, Fairford came to a stand still as the Raptor unleashed it's display in public for the first time in front of VIPs and the Friends of RIAT. Paul Johnson/Flightline UK reports . All photography copyright of Author.
The F-22 Raptor entered service with the United States Air Force for evaluation in July 2003. Since then well over 100 examples of the 5th generation fighter have been produced and are entering squadron service at Langley AFB, Holloman AFB and Elemendorf AFB. Evaluation and development still takes place at Eglin AFB.
The USAF often describes the F-22 as an "Air Dominance Fighter." The aircraft is believed to be unsurpassed by any current or perceived threat in air warfare. Despite years of delays and cost overruns, the USAF is clearly very pleased with the aircraft despite a few early setbacks. The aircraft's deployment to Fairford was one
of very few overseas deployments of the type. A previous deployment to Asia was dogged by a system glitch when the aircraft crossed the international date-line.
Three aircraft arrived at RAF Fairford on the 8th July with their tanker support. Over the next few days the aircraft kept a low profile in their hangers and were only brought out when they were due to flying a validation flight and display at Farnborough as well as the display rehearsal over Fairford. Bizarrely, the aircraft required an escort by a RAF Lakenheath based F-15E Eagle for it's flight between Fairford and Farnborough showing that the US Department of Defence remains very protective of the new aircraft. In 1996, it is thought that a BAE Systems radar system tracked the B-2 Spirit during it's display at Farnborough revealing some of the aircraft's weaknesses to radar detected.
On first sight, the F-22 is an impressive aircraft. It is a large aircraft that towers over some of the older fighters that it was sat near on the Fairford flightlines. The first sight for many of the F-22 in flight came on Thursday afternoon when Paul Moga took the Raptor to Farnborough to validate his display. Despite not using the reheat, the take off run was impressively short as the aircraft disappeared off into the laden skies with an F-15E in pursuit. A short while later the formation returned into the Fairford circuit before landing. A display rehearsal planned for the day at Fairford was scrubbed to poor weather at the allotted time.
Friday saw the F-22 appear out on the flightlines with the other fast jets. It watched over the colours parade awaiting it's time to display after the RAF's 90th Anniversary celebrations. At 16:35 on Friday, the F-22 roared into life on Fairford's sodden runway. The aircraft threw up high amounts of spray as the powerful engines propelled it into the air where it jinked slightly away from the crowd before pulling vertical into the gray skies. Once at the top of the climb the aircraft pitched rapidly through the inverted to point vertically down almost through the exact line it has taken in it's ascent. The showground just stopped.
It is not often that a display rehearsal grabs so much attention, but for the next 11 minutes or so all eyes were firmly watching the F-22 as it thundered around the sky. The noise was terrific and the water vapour pouring over the wings was spectacular. Of particular note was the degree of control that Paul Moga showed in his display, particularly when flying the figures demonstrating the thrust vectoring. Fairford has seen thrust vectoring displays before with the MiG-29OVT in 2006, but somehow the F-22 simply had more presence and looked more the part than the brightly coloured Russian fighter.
It's not often the FRIAT crowd are completely bowled over by a display, but the wide-eyed stares at the F-22 proved that the Raptor had captured their imagination. As the F-22 landed and taxied back the chalets and the FRIAT enclosure slowly started to empty - there was nothing else to match what many had just seen.
Later in the evening, news came through that Saturday's RIAT had been cancelled. This was followed by the announcement on Saturday afternoon that Sunday was also cancelled. The disappointment was keenly felt by all including the display crews including Paul Moga. On the AirshowBuzz forums Paul wrote "Today we got a good practice in after a line of showers rolled through. We flew right after the Grippen (sic). I haven't heard much feedback as of yet, but the bits and pieces we did receive were all great. If
you ask me, the USAF (heck even the entire USA for that matter) has a
lot to be proud of after our demo today. I think we made our point in a
short 11 minutes. The Brits have been awesome thus far. What great allies they are!...........Very unfortunate news for us and the entire RIAT
staff. We feel terrible that all the thousands of folks that came out
to see the show won't get to see anything. I'm sure it was a crushing
decision for the show organizers, but safety is normally a cut and dry
issue. We're still hoping to put on a solid show at Farnborough Monday. Thanks for all the feedback on Friday's demo. At least we got one good one in."
With the two show days at RIAT cancelled, the last remaining appointment was Farnborough were Paul Moga's display even made it on to BBC News. On his return to RAF Fairford, Moga didn't simply land the F-22. He performed a number of missed approaches for the enthusiasts in the Park and View areas and the FRIAT grandstand before landing using the whole of the Fairford runway to salute both Park and Views and FRIAT with close up view of this amazing jet.
Despite the loss of the displays at Fairford, the F-22 Demo Team made a substantial impact during their all too brief appearances with a new benchmark set for fast jet displays. I think everybody that was at Fairford or Farnborough will agree that the Raptor's return appearance at Fairford cannot come fast enough.
BBC News : US Shows off new Raptor Jet
|
