The Mission, the Honor, and the Thrill – In the cockpit with the pilots who fly the USAF Heritage Flight and U.S. Navy Legacy Flight Demonstrations

A P-51C from the Commemorative Air Force’s Red Tail Squadron leads a USAF Heritage Flight with an Alabama Air National Guard F-16C from the 100th Fighter Squadron on its left wing and an F-22 from the 325th Fighter Wing at Tyndall AFB on its right wing. (USAF photo)

Major Joshua “Cabo” Gunderson, who served as the U.S. Air Force’s F-22 Demonstration Pilot until the end of 2022, described the first time he flew the Raptor in formation with a P-51 Mustang as a part of the USAF Heritage Flight as “surreal.” “You pinch yourself,” he says. “You’re like, ‘Holy cow! I’m here flying a Raptor next to this Mustang.’ You can hear the Merlin from the cockpit of the Raptor which is wild!”...

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