It has been over a quarter of a century since the first F-15 Eagle air superiority fighter first took flight in 1972. In 1981 the US Air Force issued a request for information regarding the possible development of a replacement. In September 1983, the USAF awarded Concept Definition Studies to Lockheed, General Dynamics, Boeing, Grumman , McDonnel Douglas, Rockwell, and Northrop (many of these companies would later on merge). In September 1985, Requests for Proposals were sent out, and by July 28^th, 1986, all the proposals were recieved. On October 31, 1986, the USAF announced that it had selected the Lockheed YF-22 and the Northrop YF-23 for the Demonstration/Evaluation phase. Each company produced 2 prototypes. Both prototypes flew in 1990, with the YF-22 taking flight on September 29, 1990. The two competing designs participated in a 90-day fly-off competition. During the competition, the F-22 demonstrated milestones such as firing AIM-9 Sidewinders and AIM-120 AMRAAM missiles, and more importantly, the ability to sustain flight at Mach 1.58 without afterburner. In 1991 the USAF declared that the F-22 was superior, mainly because the F-22 demonstrated more maneuverability than the competing YF-23.

After being awarded an Engineering & Manufacturing Development (EMD) contract on April 23, 1991 Lockheed and Boeing got to work to produce the F-22 we know today. The final F-22 design was approved by the US Air Force on February 29, 1995. During the time from the EMD contract until its first flight, several changes took place on the F-22. The F-22's shape was changed to be better optimised, and the number of aircraft the USAF decided to purchase fell from 750 to 438. In 1996, due to more budgetary constraints, the 2-seat version of the F-22, to have been called the F-22B, was cancelled. This is unlikely to have a detrimental effect on training because the datalinks on the aircraft mean that an instructor pilot is virtually there anyway.

The fabrication of the first part of the 1st EMD F-22, #4001, began on December 8, 1993 at a Boeing facility in Kent, Washington. Finally, in a ceremony in Marietta, Georgia, home to Lockheed Martin Aircraft, on April 9, 1997, the first F-22, christened the Raptor, was unveiled to the public. This particular Raptor, The Spirit of America, was also known as Raptor 01.

The F-22 Rollout on April 9, 1997 (USAF photo)

Raptor 01 was taken up for its first flight by chief Lockheed Martin test pilot Paul Metz on September 7, 1997. Metz, who has had a 33-year career in aviation, had flown 72 types of aircraft before he climbed into the F-22. On the day of the flight, to be based at Dobbins Air Reserve Base in Marietta, GA, the weather was perfect--it had to be. With the $71M aircraft and the future of the entire program at stake, no unnessecary risks were taken. For example, the flight would have been scrubbed if winds had exceeded 6 knots. So on that September morning Metz rolled down the runway and took off 140 knots airspeed. He reached 15,000 ft in under 3 minutes--the power was so considerable that he was giving the two F-16 chase planes some trouble keeping up with the climb! Metz put Raptor 01 into a series of power changes to test handling characterisics. Around midway through the flight, Metz climbed to 20,000 ft and then retracted the landing gear, giving the aircraft its natural "clean" configuration. Once at that altitude he conducted some more engine transients, and then he landed at Dobbins after a flight lasting just over one hour. Upon climbing out of the cockpit Metz was treated to the traditional hosing down after a successful test flight.

Left: The F-22 going through extensive ground checks prior to 1st flight (USAF photo). Center: The F-22 soaring over Georgia (USAF Photo). Right: Look at that beauty, eh? (USAF photo)

Raptor 01 is the first of 9 Raptors to be tested over the next 5 years during 2700 test flights. the first 3 of these F-22s will be tested for engines and structural limits, and the last 6 will be used for testing the amazing avionics and weapons systems. The next F-22 is Raptor 02, which first flew on June 29, 1998. It took off from Dobbins AFB in Georgia 11 days ahead of schedule, flown by Paul Metz, who took Raptor 02 to 20,000 ft at 250 knots.

Less than a month after its first flight, Raptor 02 joined Raptor 01 at Edwards AFB (Raptor 01 had been flown there several weeks before in a C-5) on August 26, 1998 after a cross-country flight.

On 23 November 1998 the F-22 program reached another milestone when the F-22 reached the 183-flying hours mark. This was the requirement set by Congress to release funds for the first 6 production F-22s.

Left to Right (Top Row): Raptor 02 shortly before final assembly (USAF Photo); Raptor 02 undergoing tests prior to first flight (USAF photo); Raptor 02 during its first cross-country flight (USAF photo). Bottom Row, Left to right: Raptor 02 lining up with a KC-135 Stratotanker on 26 August 1998 (USAF photo);Raptor 02 taking on fuel from the KC-135 (USAF photo); Raptor 01 (front) and Raptor 02 (back)during refuelling excercises over Edwards AFB. Note the different paint schemes and the ED (Edwards AFB) tailcodes. (USAF photo)

Still some more F-22 pictures (USAF and Boeing photos