F-22 Milestones - Part 2

7 December 2011: Ten Hickam Field survivors and current Air Force Airmen and their families gather at the historic flagpole at Hickam AFB for the seventieth annual Pearl Harbor Day Remembrance Ceremony. The morning ceremony featured four 19th and 199th Fighter Squadron F-22 pilots carrying out the Missing Man formation.

13 December 2011: The final F-22 Raptor (10-4195) is rolled off the assembly line in ceremonies at Lockheed Martin in Marietta. This Raptor is scheduled for delivery to the 3rd Wing at JB Elmendorf-Richardson in May 2012.

9 January 2012: An F-22 Raptor pilot from a training mission is diverted by officials at Holloman AFB to join two US Army UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter crews from Fort Bliss, Texas, to help locate two hikers lost at White Sands National Monument. The Raptor pilot was able to positively locate the couple from the air. The hikers, along with their three dogs, were then airlifted by the Blackhawk crews to the National Park Service command post. They used a cell phone to call for help.

15 March 2012: The final production F-22 Raptor is flown for the first time from the Lockheed Martin facility in Marietta. Company test pilot Bret Luedke put the aircraft through a 1.5-hour initial airworthiness flight, reaching a maximum speed of Mach 1.5.

6 April 2012: Lockheed Martin test pilot James Brown becomes the second Raptor pilot to record 1,000 flight hours. His milestone flight occurs at Edwards AFB.

2 May 2012: The 195th and final F-22 Raptor (10-4195) is delivered to the Air Force in ceremonies at Lockheed Martin in Marietta. The aircraft is delivered to the 525th Fighter Squadron at JB Elmendorf-Richardson on 5 May.

30 July 2012: Maj. Ryan Howland of the F-22 Combined Test Force at Edwards AFB, California, is at the controls for the first supersonic AIM-9X launch From an F-22 on 30 July 2012.