Forum: General F-22A Raptor forum

I am really confused by this, people are adament that there are and will be F-22 slots for UPT and ENJJPT.While on other sites there are those who say you need to be an experienced F-15 pilot.
thanks
Guiness

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Not sure on this one but it definitely makes sense to transition Eagle drivers over to the Raptor. I wonder if there are any former Viper drivers flying Raptors now? I know the Air Force has taken RAF pilots and Navy Hornet drivers on exchange programs in the F-22.

I thought the Raptor drivers were all xbox kids. Shocked

The old guys couldn't make the cut on the Gs! or remember to use the "Reset" button! Crazy Pilot

The old guys probably don't want to fly an airplane that does everything for them anyway.

Very Happy

OL

There have been a few Raptor drops out of UPT recently, but not nearly as much as the other fighters (except maybe C-model Eagles). I know a few Raptor guys who came from Vipers, but alot of them are Eagle guys who crossed over.

I know one guy who just got a Raptor out of UPT last month so it does happen. He did get bounced around though for a few weeks. I think he started out with a Viper, then Strike Eagle, and then he somehow got a Raptor.

From Awesome to Wow to HOLY POOP!

Delta wrote:

I know one guy who just got a Raptor out of UPT last month so it does happen. He did get bounced around though for a few weeks. I think he started out with a Viper, then Strike Eagle, and then he somehow got a Raptor.

so they told him he was going to fly the viper, then they said he was going to be an eagle driver and then hey your going to fly the raptor the world's only in service 5th generation fighter.
The timing of that is epic! Very Happy

The son of a buddy of mine got an F-22 straight out of UPT at Sheppard. He had to be the #1 guy in his class, then competed with the top grads from several other bases for the single F-22 slot. After winning the slot, he went to Luke for an abbreviated F-16 air-to-air only RTU course. Following successful completion of the F-16 course, he went to Tyndall for F-22 RTU. He recently graduated from there and is now at Elmendorf.

New F-22 pilots who have not previously had a fighter assignment are given a "number". My friend's son was the #16 F-22 pilot straight from UPT.

Bad news for somebody wanting an F-22 out of UPT: You have to be the top guy in your class to even be able to compete for the secondary board, then compete again with the top grads of the other UPT base classes. The good news: The consolation prize for not getting selected in the secondary board is that you get to fly the F-16 instead.

Also, there are numerous former F-16 drivers flying the F-22. Burt Field, former F-22 wing commander at Langley, is a long-time Viper driver.

I know a couple Raptor drivers that got picked up out of 38s at Columbus. For that round, the AF issued 8 Raptor drops total, UPT wide, then took away 4 of those slots. The other 4 raptor driver selects got recoded into 2 vipers, a Mudhen, and an A-10.

So they just said ''actually guys there are only 4 raptor slots'' thats annoying to say the least.
Guiness

Meteor wrote:

Bad news for somebody wanting an F-22 out of UPT: You have to be the top guy in your class to even be able to compete for the secondary board, then compete again with the top grads of the other UPT base classes. The good news: The consolation prize for not getting selected in the secondary board is that you get to fly the F-16 instead.

Not true. I am good friends with over half of the guys who ended up in the first UPT class going to the Raptor. Some graduated first in their class, some did not. If the pilot who is first in his class doesn't want the F-22, the pilot who is 2nd can still get picked up if the UPT squadron leadership feels he is qualified. Afterall, the 3rd best pilot in one class may be better than the top pilot in another class. This happend for one of the pilots in the first class, when the guy who graduated #1 wanted an A-10 and nothing to do with a Raptor, the #2 guy was picked up the spot.

Also, the F-16 isn't the de-facto consolation prize. Orginally, it was all F-15Cs as consolation. Now, it can be nearly any fighter.

Wow, a guy dropped the Raptor for the Hawg. I guess he wanted that cannon huh?

sprstdlyscottsmn wrote:

Wow, a guy dropped the Raptor for the Hawg. I guess he wanted that cannon huh?

I'm guessing that he wanted a chance to actually pull the trigger and kill bad guys. Props from the infantry.

But you have to agree that,if the prospective pilot ever wants to see action and is ok with flying the ground attack role the hawg is the way to go.
Guiness

Forum: General F-22A Raptor forum

F-22 pilot slots