F-22 Down

The F-22 fleet has not been grounded, and there is no indication that it will be. The Raptors out of Nellis are still flying, so are the ones deployed to Japan. Rumor has it that since this was a test/evaluation bird the instrumentation on board has been helpful in getting an early determination for the source of the crash. However, the exact cause will likely not be made public until the investigation board concludes. It also points to it being either pilot related or a highly specialized situation particular to that aircraft and or profile. Since the non tests Raptors are not flying such configurations in similar situations it might not be an immediate problem.

Memorial services for Lockheed Martin test pilot David “Cools” Cooley will be held at 11 a.m. on Monday, March 30, at the Palmdale United Methodist Church, located at 39055 North 10th Street West. The internment (burial) will be private.

David, 49, served 21 years in the Air Force before joining Lockheed Martin as a test pilot in 2003. He began his flight career in 1983 with the F-111, first as an instructor pilot, flight commander and training officer, then as an operational test and evaluation pilot at McClellan Air Force Base near Sacramento, Calif.

David became an Air Force test pilot after graduating from the Empire Test Pilots' School in the United Kingdom in 1993. He tested the F-15 and managed the U.S. Coast Guard's flight test program for the RU-38, a low-altitude surveillance aircraft. He also served as the assistant operations officer for the 445th Flight Test Squadron at Edwards Air Force Base.

From 1996 to 1998, David was branch chief of Air Combat Command's Operational Test and Evaluation Branch, where he also oversaw handling requirements and budget for aerial target drones.

David joined the F-117 Combined Test Force in 1998, where he conducted flight test and training and oversaw numerous combat improvement programs and classified programs. From 2001 to 2003, he served as vice commandant of the Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards.

After joining Lockheed Martin in 2003, Cooley served as chief test pilot on the F-117 and flew F-16s in support of the F-22 flight test program. His last assignment was as an F-22 test pilot with the F-22 Combined Test Force at Edwards.

The man had one HELL of a career, both with the USAF and Lockheed.

Word is that there is a VERY large debris field. The current thinking is that it could have been an in flight breakup of the airframe.

[edit on 3/29/2009 by Zaphod58]

reply to post by Zaphod58



For your service and sacrifice, David Cooley, you have my eternal admiration and respect

My deepest symapthy goes out to his family.



Day is done, gone the sun,
From the lake, from the hills, from the sky;
All is well, safely rest, God is nigh.

Fading light, dims the sight,
And a star gems the sky, gleaming bright.
From afar, drawing nigh, falls the night.

Thanks and praise, for our days,
'Neath the sun, 'neath the stars, neath the sky;
As we go, this we know, God is nigh.

Sun has set, shadows come,
Time has fled, Scouts must go to their beds
Always true to the promise that they made.

While the light fades from sight,
And the stars gleaming rays softly send,
To thy hands we our souls, Lord, commend



[edit on 3/29/09 by FredT]

reply to post by FredT


Test pilots have to be the ballsiest people on earth. I have nothing but respect for them, and have been in awe of many of the things they have done.

Word is that they MAY have been doing asymmetrical weight tests on external payloads.

reply to post by Zaphod58


Yikes. That would put the craft in an unstable configuration from the beginning

reply to post by FredT


Yeah, it would have been a bear to handle from the start. One of the theories that I have heard was that they were doing further weapons testing to expand the carry capabilities. I'm wondering if they maybe had -120s on one side, and -9s on the other to see how she handled. So far it's just speculation though, so we'll have to see what comes out.

reply to post by Zaphod58


It could be but the weight between the two would be pretty easy to trim out. I was thinking JDAMS on one side and perhaps nothing on the other?

I makes it interesting given that none of the weapons are in the slip stream so drag is not an issue.

reply to post by FredT


Yeah, it could be. I'm wondering if they were testing external stores. There are a couple of sources that are saying that they're testing more than just -120s and tanks externally now.


Speaking of external stores, did you hear about the Aviano F-16 last week?

reply to post by Zaphod58


Shhesh not another one. At least the pilot got out safe

www.af.mil...

reply to post by FredT


This one was taking off out of Aviano a couple days ago and lost his engine on take off. So he followed procedure and dropped externals, trying to make it back to the base. He landed it ok, but the externals went through a guys garage and took out his car.

www.stripes.com...

[edit on 3/29/2009 by Zaphod58]

?? Left Edwards fully loaded. Went to the China Lake weapons range (app 30 miles NE of debris field) to drop some off. Did some aerial maneuvers, stress on airframe. ??

Maybe supersonic release? Maybe supersonic maneuvers?

Ask any woman who's had breast reduction in an attempt to correct problems due to weight distribution. Guys might like all the "external storage", but to a woman it could be very uncomfortable, even to the point of causing health problems. Carry a 32 pound sleeping child on your hip while trying to open the door with your free hand. I sympathize with anything asked to carry a load in a way it's not used to. Maybe a limit was finally reached.

Originally posted by dashen
FAIL!

Isn't it easy enough nowadays to convert nearly the entire Air Force to a drone force? Millions per airframe built around a cockpit made for man, eliminate the cockpit, smaller, cheaper plane, rig the drone with sensors to a VR setup, and presto- harder to lie about how much it costs to make a fighter jet.

FAIL! This is what is wrong with the "video-game" generation of people in this country. If you "depersonalize" war so much that only drones fight it, what is going to DISCOURAGE people from making war? If you wanted to carry it even further, have you ever heard of "Skynet" and "The Terminator"?

Seriously though, I'm 39 years old and I've read history. I think that the risk of large conflicts increases as people forget the horrors of it. People, with modern media, are desensitized to it and think of it as just images on Youtube and other "rotten" sites.

This country and coming generation are spoiled. We are years past living in fear of the Soviet Union (they used to be the bad guys) and England; this liberal generation has enjoyed the comforts afforded by a nation victorious over the forces that necessitated its creation. Your personal freedoms you have-- were earned for you by your elders! Your appreciation has waned and now you feel your privileges are actually your rights. You also lack a sense of self-sacrifice and honor if you truly believe that war should be "sanitized" to the point that you actually KILL REAL PEOPLE using ONLY remote control stations half a world away.

REAL WAR is NOT a video game. Ask any soldier that seen, felt, or smelled death with his own senses. Wars are something best remembered; not forgotten. The horrors need to be there to remind us that wars should not be repeated!

PS: You European invaders are forgiven.


[edit on 30-3-2009 by CreeWolf]

Originally posted by CreeWolf
The horrors need to be there to remind us that wars should not be repeated!

Even with a pilot in an aircraft which is dropping bombs this desensitization takes place. Note the comments from Gulf War pilots about Iraqi soldiers "r[unning] like ants" and references to scattering cockroaches.

IMO Europeans were not so quick to have a war in Iraq, because there are still elders around who remember at least being told the horrors of WW2 from their elders. Americans were sold the current Iraq war as being akin to a "cakewalk", with the timeline being short without the sacrifice of many soldiers.

It was the horrors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, visually presented to a populace, which made the use of such weapons unthinkable (at least to most people). The visual depiction of what napalm could do in Viet Nam sickened much of the populace.
I'm not sure it's video games per say that desensitizes us. It's when our leaders try to sanitize warfare for the populace by restricting visuals and arrogantly not honoring the ideals of a soldier.

Saw this today and thought I'ld share it. Long time for area to be closed; but nice to know, in a way, it will be returned to before crash. Don't quite know what that could end up looking like. Maybe getting rid of tire tread marks, etc. from emergency and clean up vehicles.
more info on site and clean up

Area off main dirt roads is a little lighter used ohv part, Husky Monument being a draw for riders. Sounds like the washes south off Gravel Hills.
pix of Husky to give an idea of area
HM is north of crash site, out of closed area.

I wonder if the pilots could see all the carpets of wildflowers out there this year. Next time we ride out to Husky, it will be sad.

reply to post by desert


That makes it sound even more like an in-flight break up. If they're concentrating on three washes for recovery it's spread out over a pretty big area.

Updates here? Inflight breakup and no fleet grounded still means new things being tested to me. Weapons tests?

reply to post by Daedalus3


There haven't been any. It'll probably be a month or more before we get any. They'll be in the Accident Board stage now.

From the sound of things it does sound like an external stores test, but I'm keeping my eyes open for any more updates.