LANGLEY, VA — The nation’s popular fifth-generation fighter aircraft will launch into a new air show season in March with a busy schedule highlighted by popular visits across America.
The F-22 Raptor Demonstration Team pilot for 2019 is Major Paul “Loco” Lopez. The upcoming air show season will mark his second and final season as the F-22 Demo Team’s commander and pilot.
Major Lopez, will perform a nearly 30-minute flight at the air show sites demonstrating the handling characteristics of the most advanced fighter aircraft in the world.
As a child growing up in Virginia Beach, Maj. Lopez would stand outside his home watching the Navy’s F-14 Tomcats and F/A-18 Hornets train in the skies from nearby Naval Air Station Oceania. As the Raptor Demo Team’s first African-American pilot, he knows that the youth of today look up to him as a role model.
“I always tell (children) to be enthusiastic to learn,” Maj. Lopez continued. “If you are enthusiastic to learn, people will bend over backwards to help you achieve your goals and reach your dreams.”Maj. Lopez will help bring the Air Force past together with the newest fighter aircraft as he performs the crowd-favorite Heritage Flight with the historic P-51 Mustang during many of the air shows the Raptor team attends.
“Every kid dreams about flying a P-51, let alone flying in a formation with a P-51. This was the workhouse of WWII — look at the history of the Tuskegee Airman, flying with the Red Tails,” Maj. Lopez said from the flightline. “It’s just a phenomenal aircraft.”
The business end of the Raptor are twin Pratt and Whitney F119-PW-100 turbofan engines with afterburners and two-dimensional thrust vectoring nozzles, Maj. Lopez noted. The $145 million (2016) aircraft can carry up to 18,000 pounds of fuel within its internal tanks to fuel up to 70,000 pounds of thrust combined.
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At many of the air shows the demo team visits, you will likely find Loco walking behind the flightline meeting and greeting guests in the hours prior to his demonstration. The pilot’s social involvement with the crowds is a rare treat which becomes their photo moment of the year for many he meets.
“Hopefully, at air shows, we are able to inspire people to pursue their passions, chase their dreams, and turn those dreams into reality,” Loco said with a firm nod. “Hopefully you get a chance to see the aircraft fly.”
2019 Air Force F-22 Raptor Demonstration Schedule:
March 23/24 ………. Davis-Monthan AFB Thunder and Lightning over Arizona
March 31/30 ………. Travis AFB, CA Open House and Air Show
April 27/28 ………… MCAS Beaufort, SC Air Show
May 4/5 ……………… Fort Lauderdale, FL Air Show
June 6 ……………….. Bedford, VA D-Day 75th Anniversary Aerial Tribute (Heritage Flight only)
June 15/16 …………. Whiteman AFB, MO Air Show
June 22 ……………… Fairchild AFB, WA Inland Northwest Skyfest
June 29/30 …………. Traverse City, MI National Cherry Festival Air Show
July 4-7 ……………… Battle Creek, MI Field of Flight Air Show and Balloon Festival
July 4 …………………. Racine, WI (Heritage Flight only)
July 6 …………………. Goshen, IN (Heritage Flight only)
July 13 ……………….. Eielson AFB, AK Open House
July 22-28 …………… Oshkosh, WI (Heritage Flight only)
July 27/28 …………… Milwaukee, WI (Heritage Flight only)
August 17/18 ………. Chicago, IL Air and Water Show
August 24/25 ………. Rochester, NY International Air Show
September 7/8 ……. Chesterfield, MO Spirit of St. Louis Air Show
September 14/15 … Dover AFB, DE Open House and Air Show
September 21/22 … Colorado Springs, CO Southern Colorado Regional Airshow
September 28/29 … Robins AFB, GA Thunder over Georgia Air Show
October 19/20 …….. Fort Worth, TX Alliance Air Show
November 2/3 ……. Moody AFB, GA Open House Air Show
November 15-17 … Nellis AFB, NV Aviation Nation 2019
(Charles A Atkeison reports on aerospace and technology. Follow his updates via social media @Military_Flight.)