First 4 ‘green’ Raptor pilots named

First 4 ‘green’ Raptor pilots named
Staff report
Posted : Friday Jan 18, 2008 7:07:00 EST

LUKE AIR FORCE BASE, Ariz. – The Air Force has sent its first young lieutenants to fast-tracked F-22 Raptor training designed for pilots with no background flying fighter jets.

Four pilots-in-training, who beat out a larger pool of candidates, entered the 63rd Fighter Squadron on Monday at Luke Air Force Base. Unlike pilots currently manning F-22s, the Air Force’s most technologically sophisticated jet, they weren’t pulled from the existing fighter pilot ranks.

The young pilots will complete the “Raptor Lead-In Course” after five weeks of experiencing the rigors of high-G flight in a two-seater training model F-16 jet. They’ve already learned fighter jet fundamentals on T-38 Talon jets at Randolph Air Force Base, Texas. The F-16, like the F-22, has side-stick controls as opposed to controls between the pilots’ legs.

At Luke, the pilots will also learn night flying, day and night landing, air-to-air refueling and intense anti-G straining maneuvers. After Luke, they’ll go to the 43rd Fighter Squadron at Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla., where, after two more years of training, they’ll take on F-22s.

The four first lieutenants are: Austin Skelley, Ryan Shelhorse, Marcus McGinn and Dan Dickinson.


Article at: http://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2008/01/airforce_raptor_pilots_080118/