[DeTomaso] NPC: 4195 - The Last F22 Raptor

Mike Thomas mbefthomas at comcast.net
Sat Dec 17 11:34:47 EST 2011


> This is a very cool video about the F22 Raptor program, celebrating the
> last Raptor off the line at Lockheed Martin's Marietta, GA assembly line,
> the 195th aircraft.  183 production aircraft were built, with 12 flight
> test aircraft.  They have gone through significant upgrades in the 12
> years since aircraft #4012 rolled off the line, and the modernization side
> of the program, which I'm a part of for Boeing in Seattle, will keep us
> busy and flying for many years to come as we continue to improve what is
> already a formidable tool at the hands of the warfighter.  This December
> I've marked 10 years on the program with a promotion to Lead Integrator
> for Boeing's contribution to the Increment 3.2B contract, a combination of
> software and hardware upgrades to the aircraft to expand it's warfighting
> capabilities.
> 
> Many of the names in this video I am familiar with.  One, Geoffrey Kerr, I
> currently work directly with through my role in Systems Engineering as a
> Control Account Manager for the Communications and Tracking software
> development team.  I've walked the production line in Marietta a number of
> times, and it's truly amazing being up close and personal with such a
> machine.  Working directly as I do with the engineers, designers and
> pilots who create, design, build and fly this aircraft is something I look
> forward to on a daily basis.  Though some may be troubled by the cost in
> dollars of such an undertaking by our military, but it's impossible to
> ignore the forces of imagination, creativity, skill and determination that
> came together to create such an engineering masterpiece.
> 
> "What the mind can perceive, the hand can conceive"
> - Me
> 
> Enjoy
> 
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYEx9BiJNfE
> 
> Mike Thomas
Panteras Northwest
Yellow '74 L #6328




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