Bart Bear's Blog

This is the Lockheed-Martin F-22 Raptor, possibly the best all-round fighter in the world today. There were 2 of them at the Avalon airshow and I just had to see them. I have read about the F-22 and Dad and I have made a model of it, but it is different seeing them for real. As soon as we were past the airshow gate I steered the Oldies toward where I figured the Raptors would be. You couldn't see them from any great distance because they were parked between a C-17 and a B-1, both much bigger 'planes. The Raptor has been around for a while. The first one flew in September 1990 and it went into service with the USAF in 2005, but these were the first to come to Australia. I was a bit disappointed because they didn't fly on the day we were there, but I did get a really close look at them. Just check out the bottom photo. The pilot took me inside the barrier and showed me just about everything possible without getting into the secret bits. Small bears really do get everywhere.

Labels: aircraft, airshow, aValon, Victoria