My father was working for McDonnell Douglas when McDonnel and Lockhead were going head-to-head for that contract. After the decision was made he made the comment that the two aircraft (the F-22 and the YF-23) were so closely matched that the decision between the two actually came down to which one looked better. Maybe it's my bias towards whatever he was working on at the time, but I still think the YF-23 looks better... I always thought it had a more futuristic, rougher look. The F-22 looks too 'soft' for my liking.

From what I hear, the F-22 was chosen because it was further along in development and seemed like the safer choice of the two budgetwise. Wikipedia kinda confirms this, but it does note that the details of the testing are unlikely to be released in public. There's also a note about the F-22 having a more efficient bay design for the missiles/bombs. In the end, though, either choice would be a winner.

Personally, I kind of like the Raptor's design better. The Black Widow II does look more futuristic, but I'm a fan of the old-school designs. However, it's very likely the design of the YF-23 will be recycled for use in an upcoming bomber. Judging by the success of the B-2 Spirit (which has a similar, futuristic design) I'd say the YF-23 has a good chance at being converted into a full-time bomber.

It's also possible Lockheed just had better call girls for the Pentagon brass.

Either way, sweet ride. Probably the last one humans will fly.

Aww, don't say that, QM. It's a depressing prospect. There's gotta be a reason to keep humans in the cockpits as opposed to computers . . .

*wings

Adding video to channels (Wings) - requested by kulpims.

Tags for this video have been changed from 'f15, eagle, fighter, jet, stealth' to 'f15, eagle, fighter, jet, stealth, f22, raptor' - edited by kulpims

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The duration of this video has been updated from unknown to 6:36 - length declared by kulpims.