1.0 Introduction
2.0 General Specifications
3.0 Main fuselage components
4.0 Inner structure
5.0 Wings
5.1 Fins
6.0 Weapons bays
7.0 Landing Gear
8.0 Air inlets
9.0 Cockpit
1.0 Introduction
A number of F/A-22 fuselage components have been highlighted
here to get a better idea of the technology behind the
plane and the way it is built.
2.0 General specifications
Weight empty |
: |
14,365kg |
31,670lb |
Max take-off
weight |
: |
27,216kg |
60,000lb |
Max external
stores |
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2270kg |
5000lb |
Wing span |
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13.56m |
44ft 6" |
Tail Span |
: |
5.74m |
18ft 10" |
Horizontal
tail span |
: |
8.84m |
29ft |
Wing Area |
: |
|
840 sq ft |
Length overall |
: |
18.90m |
62ft 08" |
Height overall |
: |
5.08m |
16 ft 67" |
Track width |
: |
3.23m |
10.60ft |
Engine thrust
class |
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155 kN |
35.000 lb |
Performance
Supercruise |
: |
Mach 1.58 |
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Performance
afterburning mode |
: |
Mach 1.7 |
|
Level speed |
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921 mph |
800 kts |
Ceiling |
: |
15,240m |
50,000 ft |
G limit |
: |
+9 G |
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3.0 Main fuselage components
The F/A-22 fuselage is built in 4 major parts which are
manufactured by different companies. The illustration
below shows who is taking care of what component.
- Lockheed Martin
in Marietta takes care of constructing the Forward fuselage,
the fins, flaps, ailerons and front-end flaps and for
mating the three major fuselage components.
- Lockheed Martin
in Fort Worth takes care of building the Mid Fuselage.
This is the largest and most complex of the F/A-22 assemblies.
It is approximately 17 feet long, 15 feet wide, and six
feet high and weighs about 8,500 pounds as shipped. Most
of the wiring and tubing for the aircraft subsystems is
integrated here.
- Boeing
takes care of building the Aft fuselage, main wings, power
supplies, auxiliary power units, auxiliary power generation
systems, airframe-mounted accessory drives and the fire-protection
system.
Boeing
also takes care of the aircraft's environmental
control system and fuel, electrical, hydraulic and
engine subsystems.
A completed aft fuselage weighs 5,000 pounds and
measures 19 feet long by 12 feet wide.
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The aft fuselage is 67 percent titanium, 22 percent aluminum
and 11 percent composite by weight.
- Pratt & Whitney
delivers the 2 F119 jet engines that power the F/A-22.
Click here
for the F119 engine specifications, thrustvectoring and
other information about jetengines.
4.0 Inner Structure
Most of the structural loads are absorbed by 5 titanium
bulkheads in the middle section of the F/A-22. The largest
one has a dimension of 16 ft by 6 feet, weighing 149 kg
(329 lb).
The welded booms of the aft fuselage are extremely weight-efficient
and reduce the use of traditional fasteners by approximately
75 percent.
5.0 Wings
The wings of the F/A-22 are the so-called large area clipped
delta type, being efficient at high speed. The wings have
large leading edge flaps, which make the aircraft capable
of also being efficient at low speeds and to enable it
to reach extreme Angles of Attack (AOT) of over 60 degrees.
The F/A-22's wings, which function as fuel tanks, have
undergone a series of pressure tests to ensure they are
leak proof. Boeing applied several advanced manufacturing
processes to build the wings, which are made primarily
of titanium and composites.
5.1 Fins
The fins are located at the back end of the plane and
when viewed from the side, the large fin blocks the heat
radiation of the aircrafts engine exhausts as well as
any radar search scan.
The surfaces and edges are positioned on the F/A-22 in
groups. The horizontal aileron edges are aligned parallel
with the main wings, as well as the fins which are angled
the same as the sloped body sides of the plane (looked
at from the front). The vertical fins contain besides
the steering rudders, several antenna's and sensors, used
by the avionics for target acquisition as well as communications.
6.0 Weapons bays
The F/A-22 is armed with 6 AIM-120C missiles, or 2 GBU-30
1000 lb JDAM bombs in the ventral bays. These are located
on the bottom of the plane. 2 AIM-9 Sidewinder missiles
are stored internally in the sides of the air intake ducts.
The weapons bays are covered by doors, which are closed
during normal flight. When an AIM-9 missile is fired,
the door opens, an ejection mechanism is positioning the
missiles outside the plane and the missiles is fired.
The AIM-120C missile just drops from the plane and ignites
its rocket when it is on a safe distance from the plane.
After firing a missile, the doors close again to preserve
stealth.
7.0 Landing Gear
The landing gear is a Menasco retractable tricycle type,
stressed for no-flare landings of up to 3.05m/s downward
speed. The nosewheel tyre measures 23.5 x 7.5-10 and the
2 mainwheel tyres measure 37 x 11.5-18.
8.0 Air inlets
The air intakes are located to the sides of the narrower
part of the fighter's nose. The inner tubes, where gas
and liquid flow, curves inward then upward, to cover the
front part of the engine. Looking at the F/A-22 from the
front, the face of the engine is completely invisible
dramatically decreasing the chance of radar detection.
9.0
Cockpit
The F-22's cockpit is one of the very first "all-glass"
cockpits for tactical fighters – there are no traditional
round dial, standby or dedicated gauges. It accommodates
the largest range of pilots (the central 99 percent of
the Air Force pilot population) of any tactical aircraft.
It is the first baseline "night vision goggle"
compatible cockpit, and it has designed-in growth capability
for helmet-mounted systems. The canopy is the largest
piece of polycarbonate formed in the world with the largest
Zone 1 (highest quality) optics for compatibility with
helmet-mounted systems. While functionality is critical,
the F-22's cockpit design also ensures pilot safety with
an improved version of the proven ACES II ejection seat
and a new pilot personal equipment and life support ensemble.
The F-22's cockpit represents a revolution
over current "pilot offices", as it is designed
to let the pilot operate as a tactician, not a sensor
operator. Humans are good differentiators, but they are
poor integrators. The F-22 cockpit lets the pilot do what
humans do best, and it fully utilizes the power of the
computer to do what it does best.
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