At the 4:40 frame, make sure you watch that part for sure.

F-22

Thats awesome! At the air show I went to they had the F-22's roped off and would not let anyone go near them, I wanted to see them fly sooooo badly!

I was able to see 2 of them flying in Osh Kosh. I got some video of them, but is REAL crappy. Man, they are some MAGNIFiCIENT birds. Theyre quite possibly some of the best exhibition flyers I have seen. And they have lots of things to make go BOOM. Thanks for sharing the vid.

And just think those manuvers are tame compared to what it can really do. The airforce has ordered the pilots not to push the edge of the envelope on the manuverability of that airframe. Mainly for safety. The plane basically departs normal flight and then uses the superb thrust of those engines to get it to fly again. Those planes are too expensive to replace.

You should see the manuvers the new Sukhois/migs are performing.

The power of that aircraft is immense.

It is one of only two aircraft capable of making a vertical climb. The other would be IIRC the F-15E Strike Eagle.

And with the thrust vectoring, the F-22 is capable of pulling a cobra (verticle stall) and almost instantaneously regain flight when it noses over.

Truely, an amazing aircraft.

That maneuver is also referred to as "going ballistic"

The other bird able to accelerate verticle is the F-16 Fighting Falcon. Not to be confused with the Ford Falcon.

IIRC, all fighters are able to go ballistic, but very few are able to do something with it. If any bird is able to, it would be either the Hornet (F/A-18) and the Falcon.

All modern US fighters have enough oomph to get to the end of the runway and go straight up.

Very impressive. When do the thunderbirds upgrade to the f-22?

Dunno, the original word was that the Raptor was a replacement for the Eagle. Now that the Falcon is getting up there in hours, they're making rumors that the Raptor is to replace the -16 as well. Stay tuned to the Pentagon Channel and CSPAN for more exciting and interesting developments as they occur. Will you be on the edge of your seat?

...or Pres Bush will wind up cancelling the project just like he dropped the hammer on the Comanche helicopter....politics aside, that is one awesome bird. I remember reading that early on in the project they were actually considering placing the pilot in a "crotch rocket style" position in the cockpit, which would yeild a lower canopy height and would allow the pilot to withstand higher G-forces (testing proved the motorcycle riding position less likely to black out under high load maneuvers)...I guess that would have made the F-22 the ultimate crotch rocket.

wouldnt being in a leaned forward position be a bad thing? Seems like it would hinder their ability to spot another aircraft in a dogfight.

The F-35 will be replacing the F-16.

Dogfights are really a thing of the past. You shoot missiles at enemies way before you see them. My main concern with the forward position would be comfort.

thats a nice jet those barrel roles are impressive

Seems like a forward position would hinder the overall visibility from inside the aircraft. Dogfights may not happen very often in modern combat, but every fighter jet is designed with it in mind