This photo shows 13 F-22 Raptors squeezed into the NASA Langley Research Center hangar for Hurricane protection

September 11, 2016 Military Aviation
David Cenciotti

13 F-22 Raptors and 9 other aircraft found a shelter in the NASA hangar at Langley.

The image above was posted by the Commander of the 1st Fighter Wing at Joint Base Langley-Eustis.

It shows 13 F-22 Raptors along with 9 other aircraft for a collective 22 planes squeezed inside inside a giant NASA Langley Research Center hangar, rated for Cat. 2 hurricanes, where the multi-role stealth jets were recovered in preparation of the arrival of Hurricane Hermine.

When there is no enough space to accommodate all the aircraft, airbases about to be hit by Hurricanes evacuate their aprons temporarily moving the planes to other airfields: an operation dubbed “Hurrevacing” (from HurrEvac – Hurricane Evacuation).

Image credit: NASA

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David Cenciotti is a journalist based in Rome, Italy. He is the Founder and Editor of “The Aviationist”, one of the world’s most famous and read military aviation blogs. Since 1996, he has written for major worldwide magazines, including Air Forces Monthly, Combat Aircraft, and many others, covering aviation, defense, war, industry, intelligence, crime and cyberwar. He has reported from the U.S., Europe, Australia and Syria, and flown several combat planes with different air forces. He is a former 2nd Lt. of the Italian Air Force, a private pilot and a graduate in Computer Engineering. He has written five books and contributed to many more ones.

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9 Comments

  3. Does this feel like too many expensive eggs in one basket? Why not disperse them in small concrete bunkers, strewn around the airbase. It would save the time needed to carefully arrange everything, tetris style. Not to speak of potential bottlenecks in times of crisis.

    • Short answer is that, AFAIK, there are zero hardened aircraft shelters (HAS) in the continental US to use. Since Pearl Harbor, the US tries really hard to fight our wars overseas, not at home, so we don’t waste money building HAS in CONUS.
      For those worried about the lack of hurrevac for Hermine, the storm was no longer a hurricane when it reached Virginia & had peak gusts of 50-60 mph at Langley AFB. The hangar is rated up to hurricane Cat 2, which equates to winds 96-110 mph, twice as high. Assuming NASA wasn’t lying about the robustness of its hangar, the biggest risk was a fender bender during the parking process.

  4. Seeing as there are only 187 operational F22’s aircraft in existence at present we can’t afford to loose any, the F22 has proved it is the finest aircraft in any airforce at present, I am hoping that production by Lockheed Martin on the F-22 Raptor starts again, it is all down to finance.

  5. Whiskey Tango Foxtrot?????

    back in the day he right answer was always fly them out!

    Everyone gets a two day paid vacation to Little Rock, Barksdale, Columbus anywhere far enough inland to be safe.

    • yeah same, we flew like 10 C-130s out to Scott a few years back just in case. Was a nice 3 day vacation.

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