YPSILANTI, Mich. – It’s the future of aviation and air warfare, but its presence at Thunder Over Michigan was a present to everyone in attendance.

The F-22 Raptor was the feature at the annual air show at Willow Run Airport and the Yankee Air Museum, and it expectedly stole the show. One of the newest showpieces in the Air Force arsenal, the Raptor can just do things most aircraft cannot. Of its demonstration, Major Dan Dickinson hovered the plane, turned it 360 degrees pulling over 8G’s in a small space, banked 90 degrees in mid-flight to only level it off without the need to reorganize the flight path, and much, much more.

Along with the F-35 (which was not in attendance), the F-22 is part of the next generation of stealth fighters. To see the Raptor close the show flying alongside the P-51 Mustang during the Heritage Flight, aviation enthusiasts were treated to a rare glimpse of 70 years of air superiority.

Thunder Over Michigan also had in the air the F/A-18 Super Hornet, the TA-4J Skyhawk and the TBM-3E Avenger flying in tandem, the French Breitling demonstration team, a MiG-17, a F-100 Super Sabre piloted by Dean Cutshall of Fort Wayne – the only F-100 currently flying in the United States, the original Bat Copter from the 1960s Bat Man comic franchise, and a helicopter demonstration featuring Hueys and Cobras.

The Yankee Air Museum was also sponsoring rides upon the B-17 Flying Fortress and the B-25 Mitchell, to which the museum offers year-round as part of its heritage displays in the preservation of aviation and war history.

Static displays for Thunder Over Michigan included an A-10, F-18, F-16, F-16 Thunderbird demo, MH-53, Sherman tank, P-51, and even one of the original Bat Mobiles from the Bat Man comic franchise.