Yeah, pretty spotty data there, especially since one of the other items was an IRST, which the Raptor doesn’t have. The F-35 will though.

Over G, so what if i DO have reams of books and posters over my wall on the Raptor. I do in fact. At least i have material researched by reliable people rather than rely opinionated drivel to get information from. Anyone who posts here generally gets a feel for people who post reliable information that’s able to be backed up by genuine fact, and those who are just here to provide entertainment. So, keep wearing the face paint, wig and red nose Over G, you’re just acting like a clown. You want us to believe your point of view, that’s fine, just back it up with reliable sources, multiple ones if possible.

I found some videos on night refuelling the Raptor

http://www.flighttestsafety.org/workshops/FTSC04/FA22AirRefueling/f22bright.mpg

http://www.flighttestsafety.org/workshops/FTSC04/FA22AirRefueling/f22med.mpg

http://www.flighttestsafety.org/workshops/FTSC04/FA22AirRefueling/f22dim.mpg

The Raptor is in the same class as the F-117 in terms of stealth. And one US general summed it up nicely. “There’s only 2 revolutionary DoD systems in production today, one is the F/A-22 and the other is the Airbone Laser”…..nuff said.

Just because it looks similar to previous generations of aircraft doesn’t mean you can equate it with an Eagle or a Flanker. They’re wheat for the gristmill known as Raptor. Grind you up, spit you out. The pilots univesally when they climb out of the thing after a sortie, there’s only one thing on their minds…..when can i fly again.

Not to mention that the EJ200 engine has planned performance improvements itself, first stage to aprox 23000 lbs and the big one to 27000 lbs….that’s pretty amazing for the size of the engine. Of course it would need to be refanned for higher airflow but that’s just part and parcel of normal engine evolution. Look how the F100 evolved, same type of situation. Higher temps, more airflow.

Happens every day, look at the write offs pages of Air International.

The F-14 also has an empty weight over 10 thousand lbs greater than the Eagle, that’s a lot of structure, not all because of the requirements of carrier landing. Some is because of the VG wing…..after the prototype crashed, they actually recovered the wing sweep box intact and used it as a training fixture of some kind.

Looks like an artists concept to me.

I wasn’t aware it only had DS blades, single crystal is only a refinement of the technology. I for one am not a naysayer, i think they’ve done pretty good all things considered. Just that when you design and build you own, the learning curve is pretty steep. Even for Western engines problems are common. The Pratt TF30 was a flop in the F-14, the F100 engine took forever to get right and even today you partly fly the engine not the airplane. GE had continuous problems at one point with the F110, was grounded for awhile back in the 90’s. The highly rated F119 engine in the Raptor was initially beset with issues including low mass airflow, compressor aero needed reworking and the turbine had to be redesigned. These are highly esoteric technologies, and countries like the US are the only ones with the effective resources for rapid fixes. Time will tell whether tech transfer from the Russians can help speed things up or not.