Cometh the Raptor to Sawdust City

The U.S. Air Force’s F-22 Demo team announced its 2023 schedule at this week’s International Council of Air Shows (ICAS) convention in Las Vegas. Happily, EAA AirVenture Oshkosh is among the events at which the storied outfit is slated to make an appearance. The F-22 Demo team, known formally as the F-22 Demonstration and Heritage Flight Team, will arrive Oshkosh in the fullness of its dull-gray, high-decibel splendor on 27 July, and remain thereabouts until 30 July—which is to say the final four days of AirVenture 2023.

In addition to solo F-22 flight demos, the team—as evinced by its formal appellation—participates in the U.S. Air Force Heritage Flight program. Subject program is consistently and considerably popular with Oshkosh air show crowds, as it pairs contemporary military fighter jets with vintage warbirds representative of various 20th Century conflicts.

Active since 2007 and stationed with the 1st Fighter Wing Joint Base Langley-Eustis in Hampton, Virginia—the home of USAF Air Combat Command—the F-22 Demonstration and Heritage Flight Team flies Lockheed-Martin’s iconic F-22 Raptor at airshows around the great, wide, world—the skies of which the stealthy, fifth-generation fighter rules with disputed but probable insuperability.

The team’s demonstrations highlight F-22’s dazzling power and agility, and include maneuvers the likes of the power loop, split, tail slide, and dedication pass. The latter comprises a 300-foot-AGL, 0.95 Mach arcing pass from crowd left to right (or vice versa). The maneuver is intended to give earthbound spectators the best possible views of the F-22’s upper planform.

Since its inception, the F-22 Demo Team has performed at more than 250 events.

FMI: www.acc.af.mil/Home/AerialEvents/F-22ADemoTeam.aspx