The F-22 was designed to completely
disrupt the way fighter planes are
designed and operated. They are stealthy, fast and highly
maneuverable. The air superiority starts with the two
pratt and whitney turbofan engines that
provide more thrust than any other fifth
generation airplane.
The F-22 can easily go mach 2, 1500 miles per hour without after
burners. This supercrew's capability makes the
airplane difficult to observe on enemy
radar.
Why pilots love the F-22? The avionics, sensors and on-board radar are top-notch. Pilots are easily alerted to incoming
threats for maximum situational
awareness. It is probably the ablest u.s airplane
when it comes to defeating enemy
surface-to-air missiles. It is strong on the attack in air-to-air
and air-to-ground modes with numerous
types of advanced missiles and bombs.
However the downsides of F-22s quickly
become apparent. they are expensive with research and
development costs. The F-22 rings in at
an astounding 334 million dollars each. The airplane has to be bathed in
maintenance is a killer. There are around 180 F-22s in the air
force inventory, but about half are
grounded due to maintenance issues at
any given time.
Wait until you see the number of
pre-check chores, F-22 pre-flight checks
take hours with numerous crew members
crawling over all areas of the warplane. To get an idea here are just a few of
the pre-flight chores that must be done
by maintenance personnel. But the following list gives you an idea
of what is involved.
Foreign object check of the runway, fuel
up inspection of weapons bay doors, load
missiles and bombs, check the throttle
and stick, check six LCD Displays, check
systems of threat identity, threat
priority and tracking information
analysis, clean cockpit windshield, avionics check, check installation of
panels and tighten bolts, check egress
system conduct a second check of the
cockpit, pilot checks the cockpit and
does pilot pre-flightm checks, check flaps, crew chief makes final preps crew.
Chief makes a final check of interior
and exterior of cockpit. Final full check
of communications, navigation
identification and flight information.
