Forum: F-22A Raptor

Hello to all concerned!
The Raptor's at Langley are all the 27th & 94th Squadrons will get for now! The 71st is suppose to have 12 F-15's that were at Alaska plus others that were already assigned to Langley. Originally the 71st was to convert to F-22's also, but due to our great elected officials in Washington. The amount of aircraft that was to be build was 277 in 2002 went to 182(?)now! The Air Force wants more and needs more! The cost of the aircraft that is thrown around includes money to buy new buildings and equipment for the F-22! The real cost to produce one is about $130 million. That cost was going down when the production line was putting out 36 aircraft a year. Now it's been reduced down to about 26 aircraft a year and the cost is changing again. This is the best fighter we have to date, sure there is some problems with it, but thoughts are get fixed. But when you have the advance systems that this aircraft has, there are problems that will happen! The more F-22's that are produce, the cost will come down. There are other countries that have shown interest in buying the F-22, but here again our great elected officials in Washington have decided not to allow this to happen. A watered down version of the F-22 can be build for them that will not give away our secrets of the aircraft our Air Force has! And this also can help bring down the cost for us! I know this is more information that some could care less about, but I'm putting it out there! The F-22 is the best replacement that is out there to replace our aging F-15's. The numbers are changing, they need to go up! I think soon this aircraft will be proven to the world! The tail no's will be changing all the time. If you care about the F-22, then support it, contact your great elected officials in Washington!

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RaptorAv wrote:

Originally the 71st was to convert to F-22s also

It wouldn't surprise me if the 71st stood down after their Eagles leave. Same thing happened with 1FS at Tyndall. As the need for F-15 training lessened, the 325th FW stood down one of the three F-15 squadrons. The 2nd and the 95th will continue to fly Eagles until they too convert to Raptors.

RaptorAv wrote:

due to our great elected officials in Washington

180 Raptors is what was approved, and we'll be lucky if we see that many.

RaptorAv wrote:

A watered down version of the F-22 can be build for them that will not give away our secrets of the aircraft

Not gonna happen. FMS wasn't on the books when the program started, and it still isn't on the books. The F-35 is being built for FMS.

RaptorAv wrote:

The tail no's will be changing all the time

Tail numbers don't change. That number represents what year the plane was produced, and what number plane was built within that year. In other words, tail number 02-029, for example, will always be that number. It might not always belong to the same unit, or MAJCOM, but the tail number will not change, no matter what base it flies from.

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I don't like the Raptor cutbacks any more than any other supporter of the program, but the lowest number Congress can get away with funding will be the number that is built. That's not only for F-22s and F-35s, but anything else that is built pending Congressional approval. That's how the the big show on Captiol Hill works folks. Anybody who says differently is living in Fantasy Land. Hate to be a buzzkill, but that's the reality of the situation.

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RaptorAv wrote:

The tail no's will be changing all the time

Code:

Tail numbers don't change.  That number represents what year the plane was produced, and what number plane was built within that year.  In other words, tail number 02-029, for example, will always be that number.  It might not always belong to the same unit, or MAJCOM, but the tail number will not change, no matter what base it flies from

Not to argue but I think what he meant was that certain aircraft will move from one squadron to the other. Commonly referred to as a tail number swap. Not literally changing the numbers on the jet just trading aircraft.
This has happened already.

TC wrote:

It wouldn't surprise me if the 71st stood down after their Eagles leave.

What on earth makes you think the 71st is loosing their Eagles??

What I was talking about, was when the F-15 leaves active duty.

Ohhh...I thought I missed something. Glad the Eagle retirement hasn't even been thought of yet!...Check

checksixx wrote:

Glad the Eagle retirement hasn't even been thought of yet!

It's definitely been thought of, but it won't be for quite awhile. If you're an Eagle Keeper, your job will be safe for a long time.

Most of the F-15's from Langley went to Kadena to replace two squadron's worth of F-15's there. They will also get newer motors once in place...Check

BTW, 4084 and 4086, both marked FF are operating with the based Raptors at Nellis. Whether this is a permanent or temporary move I don't know?

Regards

Mark

<i>
180 Raptors is what was approved, and we'll be lucky if we see that many. </i>

I am not that pessimistic. I believe that the eventual number of Raptors bought will be closer to 400. They can say whatever they want to say right now. But the Airforce is going to build no less than 20 Raptors a year and they intend to keep building it until... well... whatever 6th generation ATF comes around circa 2025.

BlueFour wrote:

Hmmm..there's probably already some internal shuffling going on there. For one thing, 2 jets have already been transferred down to the 43rd at Tyndall, specifically, tails 42 and 43, and those are the first 2 of 6 total aircraft to be transferred down to Tyndall. Eventually, tails 41-46 will all be TY tails, giving the 43rd 29 Raptors.

Many thanks for this very hot info, BlueFour! As I saw, Jurgen already added these significant changes to Scramble´s searchable online serial number database.

Got you both of my PM´s, BlueFour? It´s very important.

Forum: F-22A Raptor

27th FS or 94th FS