Forum: General F-22A Raptor forum

http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123272608

Excellent news after a 4 month stand-down. Hopefully the fleet will be able to focus on regenerating perishable skills such as ACM, night flying, and the like, and get back to an operationally deployable state ASAP. Also a positive is that fact that deliveries can now resume. Langley has been far too quiet these past few months, can't wait to see the Raptors up and training again Very Happy

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Maybe they could convert the fleet to a 'UCAV-optional' capability and not have to bother with all the phisiological concerns if the problem creeps up again Wink

God speed-

I think that would make them the world's most expensive UCAV. Anyhow, all that excess baggage they carry to make them "habitable" would be weight penalities for a UCAV, although they talk of an unmanned A-10. I guess stranger things have happened.

That's good to hear. I've been waiting for these to be cleared to return to the air.

As for UCAV-optional capability, isn't that planned for the next generation of fighters that Boeing is planning?

Well, this could hardly come soon enough. Our legacy fighters were able to cover just fine for the Raptors, but if the JSF has a similar malfunction...where does that leave us? Some Raptors, Beagles, and Super Bugs? *shudder*

A UCAV Raptor? Why not just name it starscream? Smile

The RUCAV if you will. I like it, But only if they make a hundred more Raptors. I just want a hundred more. Don't care if they're manned or not. Heck, I don't care if the hide them under ground and don't let us know about it. I just want them there when we need them. When someone needs a whoopin. Could happen today, could happen tomarrow, could happen in 50 years. Speek softly and carry a big stick!

So they don't know why the problem occurred, and thus have not fixed it, but they are telling the pilots get back to flying but just avoid going unconscious from lack of o2.

grinner68 wrote:

So they don't know why the problem occurred, and thus have not fixed it, but they are telling the pilots get back to flying but just avoid going unconscious from lack of o2.

It would seem that way. I won't be shocked if another pilot is sadly killed. I find it hard to believe that the worlds permier and most advanced airforce can't figure out the issue. Perhaps the USAF needs to start operating aircraft that they can actually fix when broken as the F-22 and its systems simply seems to complex for them. Not being snarky either, just trying to think logically on this issue.

It's not the Air Force that can't figure it out. It's Lockheed and associated contractors.

The reason they can't figure it out, (ie. pin the problem on OBOG's), I believe is becoming [Link pending approval]

.... It's not the OBOG's system.

I say this, because virtually the identical system is used in hundreds of other aircraft used throughout the services. Aside from pipe routing, the operation is the same. What is going on with the F-22 that caused these crashes, (or crash), is probably something they may never truly find an answer to. It is sad to see, but reality shows that many aircraft have been lost over the years with no known cause.

Last edited by munny on Sep 21, 2011 - 12:53 PM; edited 2 times in total

Whatever happened to the theory that it was the hangar startups that were (part of) the cause?

Can't they put something like one of these into the mask temporarily to monitor the o2 levels for a while? The kepner tregoe methods of working out the cause didn't work, now they should use good old fashioned science.

Yeah they're all fair points you make there Condor and I think you could well be onto something there when you say it isn't the OBOG's causing the issue.
It's a frustrating issue though even from the standpoint of a UK citizen and I say that because it affects the ability of NATO (for what NATO is worth, which isn't much) to carry out any potential future action. And of course it is sad to see the worlds greatest air to air fighter in this situation.

grinner68 wrote:

So they don't know why the problem occurred, and thus have not fixed it, but they are telling the pilots get back to flying but just avoid going unconscious from lack of o2.

They can't reproduce what caused it on the ground, so how can they fix anything? While short on details, the statement from Donley and Schwartz does say, additional equipment and procedures will help mitigate any ongoing risk. With a wary eye toward any occurrences, flying the fleet should more quickly point to any hardware issue. One would also think that one of those changes to procedures would be to not start the engines in a closed hangar.

Shep, As of late last month, the OBOGS has been ruled out as the cause of the Alaska crash. "Schwartz also said the OBOGS has been ruled out as a factor in last November's crash of an F-22 in Alaska, which took the life of the pilot. A more thorough investigation of the crash site was possible during the recent summer months and yielded recovered hardware and computer memory that made a more comprehensive analysis possible."

Last edited by EOR on Sep 23, 2011 - 06:21 AM; edited 1 time in total

2 OTs and 2 WAs flying at Nellis today

Or they has fix it , and some secret upgrade ?

Forum: General F-22A Raptor forum

And they're back-- F-22 Fleet returns to flight