SM F-22

Introduction
Hi there,

I always wanted a F-22 turbine jet ever since I went into EDF jets.
Well, the day had finally arrived. I took the delivery of my Skymaster F-22 yesterday from our local Skymaster’s distributor.
Why I had chosen the F-22 from Skymaster is because they have a local distributor here in Singapore,
Therefore, I know that if I need any  replacement parts or technical support, there is always someone here to answer on all my enquiries.

Fuselage
I had seen a few jets from other manufacturers. I personally think that the fuselage from Skymaster has a better quality in terms of
moulding. It appears to be of perfect lay up thickness, strong and light with carbon cloth reinforcement at all high stress areas.
All joining lines on the fuselage are all very smooth and clean, on top of that you will not be able to find any pin holes on it.
No doubt this F-22 is a semi scale jet but all molded in panel lines are quite scale if you compare with the real jet.
Mine is an ARF version, so all formers are factory pre-installed.


1 : 10 Scale F-22
Length: 76 3/4" (1950mm).
Wingspan: 55" (1400mm).
Weight: 21~23Lb(9.5~10.5kg).
Power: 12~27Lb (5.5~10kg) thrust

Real F-22 Raptor
The F-22 Raptor is a fifth generation stealth fighter aircraft. It was originally envisioned as an air superiority fighter for use against the Soviet Air Force, but is equipped for ground attack, electronic warfare and signals intelligence roles as well.
Faced with a protracted development period, the prototype aircraft was designated YF-22 and, as F/A-22 during the three years before formally entering United States Air Force service in December 2005 as the F-22A.
Lockheed Martin Aeronautics is the prime contractor and is responsible for the majority of the airframe, weapon systems and final assembly of the F-22.
Along with Lockheed Martin, partner Boeing Integrated Defense Systems provides the wings, aft fuselage, avionics integration, and 100% of the pilot and maintenance training systems.

Background
The Advanced Tactical Fighter (ATF) contract was a demonstration and validation program undertaken by the United States Air Force to develop a next-generation air superiority fighter to counter emerging worldwide threats, including development and proliferation of Soviet-era Su-27 'Flanker'-class fighter aircraft.
In 1981, USAF developed a requirement for a new air superiority fighter intended to replace the capability of the F-15 Eagle. It was envisaged that the ATF would incorporate emerging technologies including advanced alloys and composite material, advanced fly-by-wire flight control systems, higher power propulsion systems, and low-observable/stealth technology.

Characteristics
The dual afterburning Pratt & Whitney F119-PW-100 turbofans incorporate thrust vectoring.
Thrust vectoring is in the pitch axis only, with a range of ±20 degrees.
The maximum thrust is classified, though most sources place it at about 35,000 lbf (156 kN) per engine. Maximum speed is estimated to be Mach 1.72 in supercruise mode and without external weapons; with afterburners, it is "greater than Mach 2.0" (2,120 km/h), according to Lockheed Martin. The Raptor can easily exceed its design speed limits, particularly at low altitudes; max-speed alerts help prevent the pilot from exceeding the limits.
General John P. Jumper, former U.S. Air Force Chief of Staff, flew the Raptor faster than Mach 1.7 without afterburners on January 13, 2005.
The absence of variable intake ramps may make speeds greater than Mach 2.0 unreachable, but there is no evidence to prove this. Such ramps would be used to prevent engine surge, but the intake itself may be designed to prevent this.
Former Lockheed Raptor chief test pilot Paul Metz stated that the Raptor has a fixed inlet. Metz has also stated that the F-22 has a top speed greater than 1600 mph (Mach 2.42) and its climb rate is faster than the F-15 Eagle due to advances in engine technology, despite the F-15's thrust-to-weight ratio of about 1.2:1, with the F-22 having a ratio closer to 1:1

Reviews of the Skymaster ARF F-22 Raptor

Due to the time constraint which I have for my hobby.(about 2~3 hrs/day).
I am looking for a quick and easy assembly semi scale or scale jet for my PST 1300, therefore kit is totally out for me.

Place order

Before placing an order for this Skymaster F-22 Raptor, I had been looking around on other manufacturer jet like BVM, JL, Xtreme jet and Fei bao as well.
What makes me settled for this Skymaster F-22 is because when come to buying a plane, I am the kind of person who likes to have something which is not commonly seen in the local flying site and yet with a well proven airframe.
Furthermore there is a local Skymaster dealer in Singapore with ready stock available and because of that I am able to save some waiting time on the shipping.

Out of the box

When I opened up the box to inspect all parts, I was impressed with the quality construction of the Skymaster Jet.
For the main fuselage, all stress points were being reinforced with carbon cloth and plates by the manufacturer.
Formers with neat areopoxy joints, parts fit perfectly and excellent paint work are all being done in the factory.
All joining lines on the fuselage are smooth and clean, on top of that you will not be able to find any pin holes on it.
No doubt this F-22 is a semi scale jet but all molded in panel lines are quite scale if you compare it with the real jet.
The canopy is pre-installed to the cockpit framing which is incorporated into the front hatch.

Installation

I always like to start with installing the air system, reason is because there are more rooms to play around with in term of
Running those air tubing.
In the event of having air leaks during the test, at least I do not need to squeeze my hands or take out equipment on board in way of the air line to rectify the leakage.
I had originally intended to go without undercarriage doors in order to reduce some weight and build time.
However, I just could not accept the ugly open undercarriage bays and changed my mind at the end of the day.
Installation of doors is quite straight forward except I do need to trim off some parts on the main doors in order for it to operate properly.
Retract units and oleos are well machined and operate very smoothly.
The supplied brakes seemed both powerful and smooth when tested.

Fuel System

The fuel system comprises of 3 tanks and an UAT. Both wing tanks are located on both sides of the turbine,
main tank and UAT are being installed in between the air intake ducting.
Conventional metal clunks are included in the fitting kit. Before securing those fuel tanks in position,
do make sure that the clunk can move freely inside the tank when the tank is inverted.

Control Surfaces

Mine is a taileron version which requires only 2 high torque servos for the control surfaces.
The only thing which I do not really like about the Skymaster Jet is their servo mount.
It is just a simple aluminum “L” shape bracket holding onto the servo and looks quite “weak” to me.
However, it has been proven that it is able to hold the aircraft during a “G”.

Equipment Tray

I have to carefully plan the layout to enable easy access to any components that might need service in future.
To have a clean look for the equipment tray, I had run all cables and tubing under the tray and cable tide it properly,
Showing only the equipment on top of the tray.

Conclusion

I have been quite impressed by the finishing quality of the Skymaster Jet and the technical support which the local dealer gives me.
As you can see in my build thread, this ARF is quite easy and straight forward to build without any modification needed.
I had spent total of 72 hrs to complete building this Skymaster ARF F-22.
For this ARF, I will rate it as 4 Stars out of 5.