Forum: F-22A Raptor

I should clarify that it is a door not a panel. It opens when the APU is in operation just as the JFS doors open on the Viper. They have the APU running while they are taxiing. I will see if I can find a pic (not sure how successful I can be).

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Nobobdy has mentioned that those panels may have just been replaced cause the originals were messed up somehow, and corrosion shop didn't get an exact match on the colors....

Guysmiley wrote:

First off, its a great shot of the Raptor I thought. Can anyone comment on the 2 lighter grey panels, one between the engines and the one on the left wing root? Or the yellow stuff around two panels aft of the cockpit?

Most of the airplane is covered with a clear topcoat developed by Boeing. This stuff reportedly has a low infrared reflectance - I imagine it would make the Raptor harder to track with an IRST set or an imaging infrared missile seeker. Anyway, it's this coating that gives the airplane a 'silvery' appearance in certain lighting conditions.

The coating is apparently not applied to certain areas; the radome, canopy frame, antennas, intake lips, edges of all flying surfaces, and the two panels in the upper fuselage. Note that each of the panels has an opening at the leading edge; the one on the center is the bleed air precooler exhaust, and the one at the left wing root is the APU exhaust. These vents eject some HOT air. I believe that Lockheed deliberately leaves the IR coating off of these areas because the hot air streaming back from these vents would degrade the coating. As supporting evidence, I've got a photo of Raptor 4002 that shows burnt paint aft of both vents.

Now the yellow stuff aft of the cockpit? There are two titanium mesh-covered ECS exhausts in those locations. I think we're seeing through the screens into the underlying ducting. In some of my photos the sun hits these just right and you can see structure underneath. The yellow tinge may just be a trick of the light.

I'm still trying to figure out the nozzles! I think they're covered with a medium gray RAM but it's hard to tell.

Now I humbly await sombody from Marietta, Nellis or Tyndall to tell me I've got it all wrong...

loflyn wrote:

Now I humbly await sombody from Marietta, Nellis or Tyndall to tell me I've got it all wrong...

Don't forget Langley...

I stand corrected - I found a larger version of the photo, and the right hand screen IS in primer.

Right, if you click the link in my post it takes you to the full sized image, where it is much more clear. So, primer from a repair most likely?

Forum: F-22A Raptor

Great F/A-22 shot from above, what are those panels?