Forum: General F-22A Raptor forum

No, no, and no.

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I checked and you are right, it is Sal. So not only did Joe go for a ride on a Heritage F-4 he had F-4 jock from nam fly him. That really is a chance of a lifetime.

Justin

TC wrote:

Great pics! That pilot looks like Sal. Sal was an ex-105 driver in Nam, and helped bomb the Paul Doumer Bridge Shocked

If you put wings on a Buick Deuce and a Quarter, he could fly it! Wink

As an aside, I didn't run into anybody when I was in with my nickname, but I did meet an Eagle driver that basically had the same name as me, with the exception of one letter. How's that for creepy?

Beers and MiGs were made to be pounded!

Sal flew Thuds in Nam. I'm not sure when he first flew Phantoms, but it might've been shortly after the war. He's also flown Voodoos, Deuces, Huns, Sixes, and maybe even Eagles. Like I said, you could put wings on a Buick, and Sal could fly it. Back to the title discussion, no way will the complete accident report be released for the Raptor. They'll only tell us what they want us to know, which will not be much.

Beers and MiGs were made to be pounded!

TC, that's about what I figured with the crash report. Thanks for the insight! As I've said before, I may be a military aviation enthusiast, but I'm still a civilian. The only reason I figured they might give more information is that it was such a big story here in the news. Given the sensitivity of the jet, I just want to know if it was the pilot's fault or the jet's.

Well, they don't consider it systemic apparently-

Quote:

<b>F/A-22s cleared to resume flight operations</b>

LANGLEY AIR FORCE BASE, Va. - The Air Force cleared the F/A-22 Raptor to
resume flight operations Jan. 6 following a comprehensive review of
procedural and engineering data in the wake of the Dec. 20, 2004, accident
at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev.

While the safety board investigation continues, Air Force officials said
they are highly confident in the design, testing, and development of the
most technologically advanced fighter in the world. With approximately
7,000 flight hours already logged in the Raptor and an overwhelmingly
positive safety record when compared to previous aircraft development
programs, the decision was made that flight operations can be safely
resumed.

No one was injured in the Dec. 20 accident.

----------

Kevin
The Ejection Site

Well, since their flying again, I guess we can rule out the same problem that brought down thew YF-22, flight control oscillation.

91boost wrote:

Nobody really knows an exact cause yet, but most at my company(P&W) are concerned it was an engine failure. I've seen a similiar scenario with an F-15 in which one of its engines threw a turbine blade. Sad

I think the blade eject is a liklyhood, if the story about a flame sticking out from the side is correct.

I'we seen the result of a turbine blade ejection, and it ain't pretty. A RNoAF Viper did a total melt down on the runway after doing one of those.

Most recent Av Week had a blurb about the accident. Said the engine was fine; after takeoff the aircraft pitched down suddenly and the pilot was too low to do anything so he punched.

For what it's worth...

Possibly then a flight control failure, or maybe even something to do with the vectored thrust nozzles? These were my original presumptions. However, it still doesn't explain the fireball witnesses say they saw emit from the fuselage. Anyway, the Raptors are back up and flying. Saw a bunch of them taking off and landing today at work, so things are returning to normal. I had figured it would be very soon that Raptor ops would resume, seeing as the Chief of Staff is presently learning how to fly the jet! Now, if we can just do something about these proposed cuts to the program...

Beers and MiGs were made to be pounded!

My first entry here. I think TC might be on track with the vectored thrust nozzle. The only leak I've heard from LSV on it mentioned the nozzle...

Take a peek at last week's AF Times. Gen Jumper said it was a software/FLCS problem...

I sure hope they got that corrected quickly Shocked

!!!

I saw the maintainance trainer from Tyndall land at Langley a couple weeks ago. You don't really realize how big of an airplane the f22 is until you see if flying next to an f-15; hell, the raptor makes the eagle look small!!!!

the pilot probably feels a differnce between a 30 and 300 million dollar airplane. Its like the difference between a new beamer and a 1970s cadillac. Doesn't really matter though, when that beamer or caddy breaks, it crashes.
However, pilot error or not its got to be tough to be the first guy to drive one into the ground. That isn't something you live down very easily...

Good thing they didn't decide to take it out of his paycheck...

Gus wrote:

Take a peek at last week's AF Times. Gen Jumper said it was a software/FLCS problem...

You are partially correct, it was VMS related, but the aircraft performed how it was supposed to. There were a few things the pilot was supposed to accomplish on his before takeoff checklist that he overlooked.

Forum: General F-22A Raptor forum

F-22 Raptor crashes a Nellis AFB, pilot ejects safely