AREA 51 AND RELATED CONTROVERSIES
All unlabeled images are from www.photobucket.com and are all public domain. Other pictures on this site are also public domain and are cited.
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AREA 51 AND RELATED CONTROVERSIES All unlabeled images are from www.photobucket.com and are all public domain. Other pictures on this site are also public domain and are cited.
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There were many aircraft that were tested in Area-51 but the F-22 Raptor is one of the newest planes released to the United States arsenal. The F-22 Raptor is the most technological advanced fighter in the United States. This plane had the more testing done to it than out B-2 Stealth bomber (over five years). There are supposed to be 300 Raptors put into service in the US Air force by the end of 2012. The genesis of this aircraft all started in the 1980’s. The leader of the Air Force wanted a new stealth fighter. The requirements for the new stealth fighter were: to have low radar signatures, to have a super cruise capability, to hold internal weapons, to equip precision-guided-munitions, and to have a super maneuverability capability. The Pentagon assigned Northrop-Grumman and Lockheed Martin to each make two prototypes. Northrop-Grumman formed the YF-23. Lockheed Martin formed with Boeing and made the F-22. The Air Force quickly accepted Lockheed/Boeing’s design. The Raptor soon became the icon of the United States Air Force. The men and women of Boeing and Lockheed Martin soon began to start testing this magnificent phenomenon of aviation. Testing aircraft is very challenging. You have to look at the hydraulic systems, avionic pressures, stresses on the aircraft, weapons, speed, and many more. Test pilots fly in simulated cockpits with fully operational buttons and controls. It’s like a multi-million dollar videogame. Electrical Engineers then program the Raptor with billions of codes telling what the Raptor can do and when it can do it. Once the plane is taken to the sky, the aircraft is flown with escort planes to show that there are people to help the test pilot if something goes wrong. The Raptor was flown and tested in Area-51. In 2005, The F-22 Raptor was done with its testing and the U.S. government soon ordered 299 aircraft. Each Raptor costs approximately 156 million dollars making this order cost 46,644,000,000 dollars. Lockheed Martin took the pride to make these planes in their factories all around the world. By 2012, this majestic plane will finally be rolled off the production line and start to dominate the skies just like it was made to. But just how will it rule the skies? In order for a plane to be a great fighter it has to have speed, maneuverability, power, it has to be rugged, and should be able to carry a lot of munitions. The F-22 Raptor cleaned the slate of fighter records and stole the fame. The aircraft is powered by two Pratt-and Whitney turbofron engines providing the aircraft with 70,000 pounds of thrust. These new engines are so powerful, that the airplane can go supersonic speeds without using an afterburner! This means that the plane can go faster for a longer time span. The F-22 has the best maneuverability capability in the U.S. arsenal. The air plane can withstand more than nine “G’s” (nine times the power of gravity.) This means the plane can bank hard and turn on a dime. The jet engines have a thrust-vectoring system which means that the engines can help turn the Raptor by repositioning themselves. The vectoring system can allow the F-22 to not put a lot of G-forces on the plane making it more maneuverable. The Raptor’s dimensions are unique and are new of its class; especially its stealth capability. Nobody knows how the plane is stealthy but there is a theory. The theory is that it is covered with a radar absorbent material that is paint. The plane has a wingspan of 42 feet, a length of 62 feet, and a height of 17 feet. The maximum takeoff weight for the aircraft is 83,500 pounds. The weaponry consists of 20 millimeter cannon, 6 sparrow missiles, 2 sidewinder missiles, two 1000 pound JDAM bombs. The F-22 Raptor is the now the new icon for the United States Air Force. It has the best technology put into it, the most effort, and the most flight testing in aviation history. Because of this plane, lives will be saved and the world can be at peace. Sources- #5 Encyclopedia- Grolier P.j and Freidriksen 2008 Fighter Aircraft F-22 Raptor URL: www.ea.grolier.com/page?th/printemail
#6 Website Name of Web: airforce link Page title- F-22 Raptor Revision- 2007 Company- public affairs Date- 2/3/08 |
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