Rainey Records 1K Hours
F-22 Raptor
Photo by David Henry
F-22 chief test pilot Steve Rainey recorded his 1,000th hour in a Raptor on 22 January 2015 during a test flight at Edwards AFB, California. Rainey is the second pilot at Edwards to log 1,000 hours in the Raptor. He flew his milestone flight in F-22 test fleet flight sciences aircraft (US Air Force serial number 06-4132). During the 1990s, Rainey served as the F-22 Test Program Manager at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio. At Edwards he served as the first F-22 Combined Test Force (411th Flight Test Squadron) operations officer and later commanded the squadron. Rainey was the first Air Force officer to fly an F-22 and he made the first Raptor flight at Edwards on 17 May 1998.