FIGHTER TAKES 1ST TEST VOYAGE ABOVE EDWARDS.

Byline: Jim Skeen Daily News Staff Writer

America's newest fighter jet began flight testing with an 80-minute flight Sunday, the first in a projected five-year test program, base officials said Monday.

The F-22 Raptor took off at 7:30 a.m. Sunday on a flight with three objectives: testing its formation flying qualities; testing its speed brake handling qualities and expanding its performance envelope - the limits within which it can operate safely.

``The aircraft handled like a dream,'' Air Force Lt. Col. Steve Rainey, the test pilot, said in a statement released after he landed. ``It's the best flying aircraft I have flown, and it sets a new standard of excellence in fighter aviation.''

Described as the world's most sophisticated radar-evading airplane, able to cruise at supersonic speed without using fuel-guzzling afterburners, the F-22 kept below the speed of sound - approximately 660 miles per hour - for its first test flight and at altitudes of approximately 30,000 feet, base officials said.

The F-22 had arrived at Edwards by cargo plane on Feb. 5. Since then, the airplane's wings and two rudders, which were taken off to allow for transport, were reattached to the fighter, and a series of ground tests were run.

About 200 people are working on the F-22 at Edwards. The test program work force will grow to about 650 people by the year 2001.

Nine F-22s will eventually be sent to Edwards for testing. The second airplane will arrive this fall. The last aircraft should be sent by the year 2002.

The F-22s will make approximately 2,700 flights and log more than 4,800 hours of flying during the test program.

Assembled by Lockheed Martin workers in Georgia, the F-22 is intended to be the nation's next air superiority fighter, replacing the F-15 that first flew in the 1970s.

The aircraft is intended to be stealthy and to be able to cruise at supersonic speeds without afterburners, which spray fuel directly into the jet engine tailpipe to create more thrust.

Prototypes of the F-22 Raptor, two YF-22 aircraft, were flown at Edwards in the early 1990s when the Air Force was deciding between Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman for the production contract.

On April 25, 1992, one of the prototypes crash landed on Edwards' concrete runway after experiencing a series of pitch oscillations. The aircraft hit the ground with its landing gear retracted, slid 8,000 feet and caught fire.

The F-22 differs from the earlier YF-22 in several ways, officials say.

The F-22's wings are swept eight degrees less than the YF-22's, the cockpit canopy was moved forward seven inches, and the engine inlets were moved to the rear by 14 inches to increase the pilot's visibility.

The shape of the trailing edge of the F-22's wing was changed to increase its stealthiness.

CAPTION(S):

Photo, Box

PHOTO (Color) The F-22 has been described as the world's most sophisticated radar-evading airplane.

BOX: F-22 RAPTOR TACTICAL FIGHTER

Source: Jane's All the World's Aircraft

Associated Press