idkew said:
plus- i wouldn't say it will never fly. it is possible, but this is unfinished and readied for shipping, open air shipping. i doubt much would be present beside the frame in this situation.
You're correct, this is not a flightworthy airframe, at least not any more. There are definite signs that this aircraft did have engines and hydraulic systems installed at one time, but have since been removed. Some panels have been replaced (or were originally fitted) to serve as contour-mimicking structures in place of dielectric and EM-transparent components.
Some of the wing-root connecting anchors appear to be sheared-off or removed and there is a decided lack of the yellow-green zinc chromate primer that is prevalent on airworthy pre-delivery (and active-duty) aircraft.
The most telling indicator in your photos is the fact that the wiring harnesses are exposed to the airstream, and even allowed to dangle out of one of the openings at the rear of the wing root. They don't do that with brand-new $90+ million aircraft.
Also, the fact that it's being moved through Iowa on a truck indicates that this is a Raptor that's left the factory and is in no hurry toward its destination. The F/A-22's are assembled start-to-finish in Marietta, Ga. and are typically delivered by air, either under their own power or in a C-5B.
idkew said:
But, this shows the scale, especially of the huge engines.
Yes, the F/A-22 is
huge, being somewhat larger than the F-15. But the engine bays only reference the diameter of the compressor and precombustion stages - with the thrust-vectoring nozzle installed, the engines are even bigger than is indicated here.
BTW, if the engines were installed, taking a photo of them
would land you in trouble.
job said:
Agreed. The radar is missing and the white boxes in the nose seem to be placeholders.
The F/A-22 doesn't have a traditional radar. It uses a 360-degree electronically phased/pulsed array. Although there is a transmitter under the radome, there are additional arrays placed throughout the structure of the aircraft. I can tell you where they are, but then both of us would be in trouble.
job said:
It might not be wrapped because there just isn't anything to hide.
Exactly. If they had anything they didn't want you to see, the would have covered it up (and there are a few locations on this airframe where they did hide sensitive structures and components). They transported it on public roads in the middle of the day on the back of a flatbed without a tarp. This pretty much says that they couldn't have cared less about who say the airframe or took photos.
Lockheed knows all about transporting aircraft structures in secret. They moved the U-2's, A-12's and the prototype SR-71 to "an undisclosed test facility in Nevada" via public roads on the back of a flatbed (in special shipping containers). And they also have access to a pair of dedicated C-5B
Galaxy heavy lift aircraft for transporting components for the F/A-22, F-35 and C-130J programs. (And they have a couple of AMC C-5B's that they borrow for black world projects, too.)
