F-22 Raptor
Pilot Major Dave "Zeke" Skalicky

The F-22 Raptor is the Air Force's newest fighter aircraft. Its combination of stealth, supercruise, maneuverability, and integrated avionics, coupled with improved supportability, represents an exponential leap in warfighting capabilities. The Raptor performs both air-to-air and air-to-ground missions allowing full realization of operational concepts vital to the 21st century Air Force.

The F-22, a critical component of the Global Strike Task Force, is designed to project air dominance, rapidly and at great distances and defeat threats attempting to deny access to our nation's Air Force, Army, Navy and Marine Corps. The F-22 cannot be matched by any known or projected fighter aircraft.

Major Dave "Zeke" Skalicky is the United States Air Force F-22 Raptor Aerial Demonstration Team Commander and pilot based at Langley Air Force Base, Va. As the F-22 Aerial Demonstration Commander, he is responsible for representing Air Combat Command, United States Air Force, Department of Defense, and United States of America at more than 30 air shows annually. He leads the 14-member F-22A Demonstration Team, oversees maintenance actions performed on the Lockheed Martin $137M demo aircraft, and showcases the Raptor's exceptional maneuverability for more than 10 million spectators around the world each year. He is an operational F-22A instructor pilot assigned to the 1st Operations Group, Langley AFB, Va. He is 32 years old.

Maj. Skalicky was born in Minneapolis, Minn. on August 5, 1976. He attended Hopkins High School in Hopkins, Minn. graduating in June 1994. After high school Maj. Skalicky attended the University of Minnesota and graduated from the Institute of Technology's Honors Program with a Bachelor's Degree in Aerospace Engineering and Mechanics in 1999.

Click here for more on the F-22 Raptor.
Also, click here for more information on Major Dave "Zeke" Skalicky.