F-22 Milestones - Part 2

11 March 1999: Boeing begins testing the F-22 Block 1 avionics software package aboard the 757 Flying Test Bed.

29 April 1999: The F-22 main and side weapon bay doors are opened for the first time during a single flight. The weapon bays on Raptor 02 contain structurally representative AIM-9 and AIM-120 missiles.

4 May 1999: Jon Beesley flies Raptor 02 for the program’s 100th flight test sortie.

20 July 1999: Raptor 01 is used to demonstrate supercruise for the first time at Edwards AFB. Air Force Col. C.D. Moore flies the aircraft at Mach 1.5 for several minutes without the use of afterburners.

25 August 1999: Raptor 02 is flown on a sixty-degree high angle of attack in a flight test at Edwards AFB.

18 November 1999: The F-22 is refueled from a KC-10 Extender tanker for the first time.

18 November 1999: The F-22 is refueled from a KC-10 Extender tanker for the first time.

21 December 1999: Total flight test time for the F-22 program surpasses the 500-hour mark.

11 January 2000: Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Michael Ryan flies chase in an F-16 during an F-22 test mission at the Air Force Flight Test Center at Edwards AFB.

6 March 2000: Chuck Killberg completes the first flight of Raptor 03 (Air Force serial number 91-4003).

15 March 2000: Raptor 03, piloted by Lt. Col. Bill Craig, is flown nonstop from Marietta to Edwards AFB.

10 June 2000: The F-22 System Program Office at Wright-Patterson AFB is presented the Daedalian Weapon System Award in Tampa, Florida. The award is given annually by the Order of the Daedalians to the most outstanding weapons system.