The F-22 Raptor is one of the most impressive military aircraft currently in use, and the only one to be that impressive, and no longer in production. That means there aren’t that many things about it to report on a constant basis, and that’s a shame. Luckily, we do get to see it from time to time in action thanks to the airmen that keep snapping instances of it.
Today’s dose of Raptor in the sky comes our way courtesy of the USAF, a Master Sergeant, and a Nikon camera that was pointed in the right direction at the right time.
The photo, released at the end of last week, shows an F-22 deployed with an unspecified unit taking off from the Honolulu International Airport in Hawaii. The aircraft was there to attend an exercise meant to “provide participants a multi-faceted, joint venue with supporting infrastructure and personnel.“
The plane is seen heading for a patch of clouds, engine burning hot, and seems to have the fluffy substance of the cloud attached to its wings as it moves up. It’s more likely a cloud the plane has created itself, probably the initial stages of a vapor cone.
That would be a phenomenon that occurs when a plane passes through the air at high speeds. Although a common sight in the skies of our world, it does take a lot of right conditions to form, from air temperature to air pressure and density.
We don’t know if a full vapor cone formed around this airplane, but even without that, the beast remains an impressive sight.
And a rare one, given how under 200 of them have been built back in the day when Lockheed Martin was making it. And also on account America is the only country in the world to use these planes.
The photo, released at the end of last week, shows an F-22 deployed with an unspecified unit taking off from the Honolulu International Airport in Hawaii. The aircraft was there to attend an exercise meant to “provide participants a multi-faceted, joint venue with supporting infrastructure and personnel.“
The plane is seen heading for a patch of clouds, engine burning hot, and seems to have the fluffy substance of the cloud attached to its wings as it moves up. It’s more likely a cloud the plane has created itself, probably the initial stages of a vapor cone.
That would be a phenomenon that occurs when a plane passes through the air at high speeds. Although a common sight in the skies of our world, it does take a lot of right conditions to form, from air temperature to air pressure and density.
We don’t know if a full vapor cone formed around this airplane, but even without that, the beast remains an impressive sight.
And a rare one, given how under 200 of them have been built back in the day when Lockheed Martin was making it. And also on account America is the only country in the world to use these planes.