Departure of the dozen Raptors that were at Lakenheath for a ferw weeks.

Departure of the dozen Raptors that were at Lakenheath for a few weeks.

Departure of the dozen Langley Raptors from Lakenheath.

After flying with the 58th and 405th Tactical Training Wings at Luke AFB, AZ this Eagle was transferred to the Louisiana ANG at New Orleans. When struck off from active service in 1991, it was redesignated as GF-15A and used at Langley AFB, VA for ground instructional training. Following a period on display at Hampton, VA it was moved to the NMUSAF in 2013

The Raptor, viewed from the front, has a distinctive, stealthy design. Key features include a curved fuselage, hard-edged angles, and a golden canopy. The F-22s clipped delta wings, large leading-edge flaps, and canted vertical stabilizers are also visible. The front view highlights the aircraft's low observable (stealth) design, minimizing its radar cross-section. And check the enormous reach of the horizontal stabilizers and rudders as well as the camouflage scheme which clearly reveals some new parts on the aircraft.

Touch down!

About to touch-down at the Camp Douglas runway, impressive to be that close to a moving Raptor, it was only made with some 90mm. This Lot 8 aircraft of Fiscal Year 2008 was completed at the Lockheed Martin facility on 18 October 2009 and was delivered to the US Air Force on 2 February 2010. It showed a deviating part just in front of the canopy.

The squadron bird of the "Ironman" returning to its parking spot after a Northern Lightning 2017 sortie. The 71st Fighter Training Squadron flew the Talon from 2015 to 2021. Its mission was to conduct adversarial air training for the F-22sflown by the other squadrons of the 1st Fighter Wing. This training was previously performed by F-22s of the 27th Fighter Squadron at substantially more expense. In 2021 the squadron became a paper unit and was reactivated as a F-22A squadron in 2023.

This black Talon has quite a history. It started as a advanced jet trainer, moved to AMARG with inventory code AA TF0300 from 9 Mar'95 to 13 May'99, returned to Randolph and was selected for lease to South Korea. After that period, it returned to AMARG on 6 Jan'10 with inventory code AA TF0380. Returned to service on 23 Mar'11 and was first moved to Holloman's 49th FW, then to Tyndall's 325th Fighter Wing and later to the 27th Fighter Squadron at Langley AFB (VA). Moved to the 71st Fighter Training Squadron 'Ironman' at the same base (as pictured). Traded in its black c/s for a heritage c/s