Officials with the Air Force Flight Test Center at Edwards AFB, Calif., held a dedication ceremony on June 11 to welcome a YF-22, a prototype of the F-22 stealth fighter, into the center’s museum. “This Raptor is a great addition to our museum here, and will be a crowd-pleaser,” said Fredrick Johnsen, AFFTC Museum director. The aircraft’s arrival was a homecoming of sorts since it was the first YF-22 built in Lockheed Martins’ nearby Plant 42 in Palmdale and it flew all of its 43 test missions at Edwards. It spent the past several years on temporary display at the National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton, Ohio. The Raptor was ferried on a C-5 transport from Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, to Edwards. Maintenance personnel tore down the aircraft for the trip and then rebuilt at Edwards. (Edwards report by Stephen K. Robinson)
Planning an Air Show Is Hard. At Andrews, It’s Even Harder
Sept. 17, 2025
Joint Base Andrews opened its flightline this month to thousands of civilians, exposing a normally restricted airbase that regularly hosts the president and foreign dignitaries to a curious public eager to see current and historic military aircraft up close and in action.
