F-22 Raptor - 90% of engineering perfection

To start with, here's a link to a video (available for free)...
F-22 Raptor flaunting itself

I haven't written about fighter planes in a long time... not until I came across this website (below):

Flight School list - not entirely about flight schools!

Anyway, let's not veer away from the subject.
Which is none other than the first downright stealth fighter plane from the minds of Lockheed Martin (yeah those boys from Skunk works!) - F-22 Raptor!!
Besides it's stealth it also has super-cruise capabilities which is as important.  And to cap it all off, it has the US version of thrust vectoring (TVC) nozzles albeit "just" vertical TVC nozzles.  If you don't know what all this means, I'll dial it down for you:

1. Stealth - it is characterized by the low or non-existent radar signature which makes it almost impossible to detect it's approach in a combat situation.  Nowadays, thanks to the Russians, they can be detected from the ground, but not so much in air to air combat.  Stealth is achieved by specially shaped body of the aircraft and limiting of it's heat emissions.
2. Super-cruise - It's the next step from afterburners.  Practically, it's diet afterburners - ability to maintain afterburners for a longer period of time wasting less fuel.  It's grrrrrreat!
3. TVC (thrust vectoring control) - The Raptor has vertical TVC capability which means the engine nozzles can move up or down by some 30 degrees respectively.  It gives the raptor better manoeuvrability and faster and more seamless changes of direction.

All this coupled with a near perfect fly-by-wire system gives the F-22 air superiority.  For now.  
So why is the F-22 not a 100% perfect?
Well for one, relying fully on fly-by-wire has it's limitations as it sometimes goes against the instincts of the pilot - in translation, if it thinks the pilot is wrong, it corrects the move via computer, it takes over.  So the pilot cannot fully get the "feel" of the plane.
Furthermore, "only" having vertical TVC limits it's manoeuvrability compared to, for instance, the Su-37, the Super Flanker.  The flanker literally does somersaults in the air.  (I won't mention that the fly-by-wire in a flanker can be "overridden" by the pilot)
Here's a video...
Su-37 derivative with TVC playing in the air

But this is not the future No1 opponent of the Raptor.  That place is reserved for the Russian raptor, the Su-50 which is still in the shakedown phase but it has all the characteristics of the raptor and it looks like the F-35.

Here's a quick preview....

Su-50 (not yet been given a NATO designation)

I first saw the thrust vectoring nozzles at RAF Fairford in 2006, during RIAT 2006, on a MIG 29 OVT.  My only regret is that I couldn't film the nozzles working.  But you can find loads of videos on YouTube!

Back to the raptor - it will at some point be upgraded with 360 degree TVC but maybe it won't.  Who knows.

In any case, there is no better fighter in the world today.  For now.  (This coming from a massive fan of Russian fighters)

Looking forward to the years to come....