US Air Force's F-22s Are Flying Again

Critic Pierre Sprey said the oxygen system’s problems can be traced to the complexity of the F-22, which takes air from a jet engine's compressor section to supply oxygen to pilots. Previous oxygen systems simply used a separate bottle that fed air to pilots. (Airman First Class Courtney / September 21, 2011)

Air Force's F-22s Are Flying Again: Of Smoking Guns, And Smoking Holes -- Time

The Air Force has decided to let its fleet of F-22 fighters back into the air beginning Wednesday without fixing the problem that led to their grounding in the first place. Concerns that Raptor pilots were passing out due to a lack of oxygen -- there's another reason for drones -- led to the fleet-wide grounding May 3.

After extensive flight tests with a heavily-instrumented F-22, the Air Force and its Scientific Advisory Board were unable to pinpoint any problem aboard the $353 million-per-copy planes. "We now have enough insight from recent studies and investigations that a return to flight is prudent and appropriate," says General Norton Schwartz, the Air Force chief of staff.

Read more ....

More News On The F-22

Air Force lifts 4-month grounding of F-22 over oxygen issues, returns stealth jets to service -- Washington Post/AP
Air Force putting F-22 Raptors back in service -- L.A. Times
F-22 Raptors return to service Wednesday -- Forbes/AP
F-22 fleet to resume flight operations -- Pacific Air Forces
USAF: Hypoxia Not Cause of F-22 Crash -- Aviation Week
Hypoxia symptoms still pose mystery as F-22A returns to flight -- Flight Global
F-22s, Mysteriously, Fly Again -- Strategy Page