F-22 experts...I need your help

[Skwurl]

I posted this over at simhq, but haven't really gotten a solid response. I'm hoping someone here can help me out...

 

http://www.simhq.com/simhq3/sims/boards/bbs/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=142;t=005140

[Disso]

heh..solid response, nice replies! haha

 

Anyway, I think you're comparing diagrams of the early rendition of the F-22 and the production model. Their dimensions are quite different, with variations at the nose, tail fins, ect.

[Skwurl]

Do you know of any production model schematics that show top, front, and side?

[Pilotasso]

grabbing a model kit would be a good idea, I actualy have one, 1:72 YF-22

Canopy is different though.

[Force_Feedback]

The nose on the YF-22 was much nicer an sleeker, not making it look like a duck with obesity, the YF-22 looked faster than the production F-22s.

 

But the flatter nose isn't in any of the pics shown in the 1st post, so it's all either YF-22 or pre production versions with the nicer nose. Gosh, I hate that nose, with the old one it seemed fast and futuristic, now it looks like some fat pick-up truck, argh.

I also hate the noses of the su-3x and the Eurofighter EF-2000, they too are too big. I do like the nose (and shape) of the F-16A, Su-34, although it's not thin, it is flat, and has a smaller side profile.

[D-Scythe]

The nose on the YF-22 was much nicer an sleeker, not making it look like a duck with obesity, the YF-22 looked faster than the production F-22s.

 

Well, looks are as far as that goes. The production F-22 supercruises at Mach 1.7 - almost 15 percent faster than the YF-22's Mach 1.5.

[Force_Feedback]

I don't think a new nose will make the engines more powerful, it was due to stealth/radar. A new nose doesn't mean higher speeds per se.

[Corsair7662]

Introduction-

A number of F/A-22 fuselage components have been highlighted here to get a better idea of the technology behind the plane and the way it is built.

 

General specifications-

 

Weight empty:

14,365kg, (31,670lb)

 

Max take-off weight:

27,216kg, (60,000lb)

 

Max external stores:

2270kg, (5000lb)

 

Wing span:

13.56m, (44ft 6in.)

 

Tail Span:

5.74m, (18ft 10in.)

 

Horizontal tail span:

8.84m, (29 ft)

 

Wing Area:

840 sq ft

 

Length overall:

18.90m, (62ft 8in.)

 

Height overall:

5.08m, (16ft 67in.)

 

Track width:

3.23m, (10.60ft)

 

Engine thrust class

155 kN, (35.000 lb)

 

Performance Supercruise

Mach 1.58 Performance afterburning mode

 

Mach 1.7 Level speed:

921 mph, (800 kts)

 

Ceiling:

15,240m, (50,000 ft)

 

G-limit:

+9 G

 

Main fuselage components-

The F/A-22 fuselage is built in 4 major parts which are manufactured by different companies. The illustration below shows who is taking care of what component.

 

 

 

- Lockheed Martin in Marietta takes care of constructing the Forward fuselage, the fins, flaps, ailerons and front-end flaps and for mating the three major fuselage components.

 

- Lockheed Martin in Fort Worth takes care of building the Mid Fuselage. This is the largest and most complex of the F/A-22 assemblies. It is approximately 17 feet long, 15 feet wide, and six feet high and weighs about 8,500 pounds as shipped. Most of the wiring and tubing for the aircraft subsystems is integrated here.

 

- Boeing takes care of building the Aft fuselage, main wings, power supplies, auxiliary power units, auxiliary power generation systems, airframe-mounted accessory drives and the fire-protection system.

 

 

Boeing also takes care of the aircraft's environmental control system and fuel, electrical, hydraulic and engine subsystems.

 

A completed aft fuselage weighs 5,000 pounds and measures 19 feet long by 12 feet wide.

The aft fuselage is 67 percent titanium, 22 percent aluminum and 11 percent composite by weight.

 

Inner Structure-

Most of the structural loads are absorbed by 5 titanium bulkheads in the middle section of the F/A-22. The largest one has a dimension of 16 ft by 6 feet, weighing 149 kg (329 lb).

 

Wings-

The wings of the F/A-22 are the so-called large area clipped delta type, being efficient at high speed. The wings have large leading edge flaps, which make the aircraft capable of also being efficient at low speeds and to enable it to reach extreme Angles of Attack (AOT) of over 60 degrees.

 

The F/A-22's wings, which function as fuel tanks, have undergone a series of pressure tests to ensure they are leak proof. Boeing applied several advanced manufacturing processes to build the wings, which are made primarily of titanium and composites.

 

Fins-

The fins are located at the back end of the plane and when viewed from the side, the large fin blocks the heat radiation of the aircrafts engine exhausts as well as any radar search scan.

 

The surfaces and edges are positioned on the F/A-22 in groups. The horizontal aileron edges are aligned parallel with the main wings, as well as the fins which are angled the same as the sloped body sides of the plane (looked at from the front). The vertical fins contain besides the steering rudders, several antenna's and sensors, used by the avionics for target acquisition as well as communications.

 

Weapons bays-

The F/A-22 is armed with 6 AIM-120C missiles, or 2 GBU-30 1000 lb JDAM bombs in the ventral bays. These are located on the bottom of the plane. 2 AIM-9 Sidewinder missiles are stored internally in the sides of the air intake ducts.

 

The weapons bays are covered by doors, which are closed during normal flight. When an AIM-9 missile is fired, the door opens, an ejection mechanism is positioning the missiles outside the plane and the missiles is fired. The AIM-120C missile just drops from the plane and ignites its rocket when it is on a safe distance from the plane. After firing a missile, the doors close again to preserve stealth.

 

Landing Gear-

The landing gear is a Menasco retractable tricycle type, stressed for no-flare landings of up to 3.05m/s downward speed. The nosewheel tyre measures 23.5 x 7.5-10 and the 2 mainwheel tyres measure 37 x 11.5-18.

 

Air inlets-

The air intakes are located to the sides of the narrower part of the fighter's nose. The inner tubes, where gas and liquid flow, curves inward then upward, to cover the front part of the engine. Looking at the F/A-22 from the front, the face of the engine is completely invisible dramatically decreasing the chance of radar detection.

 

Cockpit-

The F-22's cockpit is one of the very first "all-glass" cockpits for tactical fighters – there are no traditional round dial, standby or dedicated gauges. It accommodates the largest range of pilots (the central 99 percent of the Air Force pilot population) of any tactical aircraft. It is the first baseline "night vision goggle" compatible cockpit, and it has designed-in growth capability for helmet-mounted systems. The canopy is the largest piece of polycarbonate formed in the world with the largest Zone 1 (highest quality) optics for compatibility with helmet-mounted systems. While functionality is critical, the F-22's cockpit design also ensures pilot safety with an improved version of the proven ACES II ejection seat and a new pilot personal equipment and life support ensemble.

 

The F-22's cockpit represents a revolution over current "pilot offices", as it is designed to let the pilot operate as a tactician, not a sensor operator. Humans are good differentiators, but they are poor integrators. The F-22 cockpit lets the pilot do what humans do best, and it fully utilizes the power of the computer to do what it does best.

[D-Scythe]

I don't think a new nose will make the engines more powerful, it was due to stealth/radar. A new nose doesn't mean higher speeds per se.

 

LOL, yeah, obviously I wasn't implying that the duck nose made the F-22 faster. I was just saying that even though it's...more duck-ish, and looks clumsier, the F-22A is actually much better in terms of speed than the YF-22 (mostly due to Pratt&Whitney's extended work on their F119 engines).