F-22 Milestones - Part 2

9 February 2004: The Raptor test program records its 5,000th flight hour.

18 March 2004: Raptor 03 is used to carry out the first missile separation launches of an AIM-9 and an AIM-120 during the same flight. That same day, the first hot-pit refueling of a Raptor is successfully carried out at Edwards AFB.

19 March 2004: Two AIM-120 AMRAAM missiles are ripple launched for the first time from a single F/A-22. Lt. Col. Evan Thomas executes the launch from Raptor 07.

22 April 2004: Fred Knox conducts the first F-22 in-flight external fuel tank jettison while flying Raptor 02.

23 April 2004: Lt. Col. Evan Thomas in Raptor 03 completes the first separation test of a 1,000-pound GBU-32 Joint Direct Attack Munition, or JDAM, from an F/A-22.

29 April 2004: The Air Force announces the start of F/A-22 Initial Operational Test and Evaluation, or IOT&E, at Edwards AFB.

13 May 2004: Boeing test pilot Randy Neville lands Raptor 05 at Boeing Field, marking the first time an F/A-22 has appeared in Seattle, Washington, where its aft fuselage and wings are built.

10 June 2004: Testing the F/A-22’s ability to roll and launch AIM-9 heat-seeking short-range missiles is completed. The F/A-22 rolling AIM-9 separation test program, a first for any flight test effort, included a total of seventeen launches across a wide range of conditions.

1 June 2004: Lt. Col. Dawn Dunlop, a 1988 Air Force Academy graduate, flies Raptor 06 over Falcon Stadium during graduation exercises of the Class of 2004.

24 July 2004: The F/A-22 Combined Test Force at Edwards AFB successfully completes a mission in which a single Raptor ripple launches four AIM-120 AMRAAM missiles. Col. Joe Lanni flies Raptor 05 for this test.

27 July 2004:  An F/A-22 is tested for the first time in Benefield Anechoic Chamber at the Air Force Flight Test Center at Edwards AFB.

2 September 2004: An F/A-22 drops a 1,000-pound GBU-32 JDAM at Edwards AFB, successfully hitting its designated ground target.