Have you seen these F-22 Raptor prototype pics?

[JValk]

http://www.edwards.af.mil/gallery/html_pgs...launch1_300.jpg

http://www.edwards.af.mil/gallery/html_pgs...launch2_300.jpg

[Zentrandude]

pretty cool. hate for the guy that does something wrong to be assign to clean the missile bays from the thrust.

[Knight26]

Old pics, and contrary to popular belief there is very little exhaust residue to be cleaned up after a missile launch because how fast it is off the rail. Even on the missile launcher I work on it, the worst you get is a some scorched paint around the front of the launhcer, nothing more then that, unless you have a hangfire. Of course if an F-22 got a hang fire on one of its sidewinders it would be beyond screwed, one bad holdbatch latch squib and you could kiss the F-22 goodbye.

[Zentrandude]

popular belief heh didn't know other people thinks that too. I was saying that from the look of the 2nd picture with the bay door being slightly blackened.

[Knight26]

That's a shadow

[Zentrandude]

I though so too but the top missile bay door is blocking the direct sunlight leaving only the indirect reflected off the ground. also the shadow from the V-tail is down and slightly to the right of the aircraft while the slighly blacken part is going to the left and also is lighter in color and another look at it it appears to be u-shaped around the ridges where the hot air is trapped when the missile gets launched.

in the first picture of it being launched you see the rail deflecting the thrust down into the back end of bay door and with light from the missile it should be white on the left side like the others and on the right side while having a small shadow.

Edited April 24, 2005 by Zentrandude

[jenius]

I am thoroughly unimpressed... I hear this thing can't even transform.

[Graham]

I am thoroughly unimpressed... I hear this thing can't even transform.

Yeah, that's cus they didn't hire Kawamori to design it........idiots!

Graham

[Zentrandude]

I am thoroughly unimpressed... I hear this thing can't even transform.

Yeah, that's cus they didn't hire Kawamori to design it........idiots!

Graham

I hear Kawamori has a private island somewhere north east of austrila (proly get hunted by the down-unders for misspelling their country's name ) with a secret base full of 1:1: valks and reaction missiles getting ready to take over the world with his private sound force squad using american idol as a secret recuitment tool as like the arcade in the movie the last star fighter.

Edited April 24, 2005 by Zentrandude

[Phyrox]

Aren't these pics several years old by now?

[myk]

Hasn't this plane already been deemed obselete/irrelevant?

[Graham]

Well, IIRC the US Congress recently finally approved the F/A-22 for full rate production.

So obviously, somebody doesn't think that it is obselete/irrelevant.

And just because in recent conflicts that the US has been involved in there has been no significant air-to-air threat, doesn't mean the same will hold true for any future wars. If the US wants to maintain it's lead as a Superpower and as the country with the most tehnologically advanced military, it needs aircraft like the F/A-22 to stay ahead of the pack.

Any shooting war with China, India, Iran, France (hey, I'm British, we never liked the Fench), could include air-to-air combat and the present F-15, F-17, F/A-18 are just not going to cut it agains the recent generation of Flankers, Rafale or Eurofighter, all of which may end up exported in one form or another to countries which pose a possible threat to US interests.

Graham

[Skull Leader]

The Raptor is FAR from irrelevant. The final total of F-22s ordered was trimmed back, but we're still getting a lot of them. The F-22 is going to be what saves the United States' collective ass when the F-35 gets raped in combat (god, I hate that plane)

[HWR MKII]

The raptor may be all grand and great to some but they still cant keep the AIM 9series missiles from smacking the weapons bay bulkhead on the way out . Seeing that those weapons are my job im not looking forward to this overdeveloped ball of problems they call a fighter.

The 15-E has enough problems of its own now this thing.

BTW shouldnt this be in the acft super thread?

Edited April 24, 2005 by HWR MKII

[David Hingtgen]

The YF-23's Sidewinders were to be launched just like the AMRAAM's. (Though I think the YF-23's AMRAAM launcher was considered more complex than the -22's, but I've never found even a decent schematic of the -23's).

[HWR MKII]

Looks like the launchers are the LAU 128/129 series on the 22 so it can take both the AIM9 and 120. They are just mounted on an extender for firing.

[ewilen]

Is the F/A-22 obsolete/needed/great/a waste/whatever--see the fighter debates super thread where we go round and round on the topic.

Anyway, I was just wondering--why does the missile exhaust look like it's coming out in "pulses"?

[hellohikaru]

Anyway, I was just wondering--why does the missile exhaust look like it's coming out in "pulses"?

Those are shock diamonds. Happens when the flow is of higher or lower pressure than the elements outside.