Eight Air Force F-22A Raptors that some residents complained were extra loud when they took off early Friday morning followed a normal departure route and did not stray over land, a Hickam Air Force Base spokeswoman said yesterday.

Spokeswoman Bette Kalohi said the stealth fighters, leaving in two waves at about 3 a.m. and before 3:45 a.m., used the usual 8-Right runway at Ho-nolulu International Airport, headed diamondhead and out over the ocean, and never flew over land.

"I have since verified with the (Federal Aviation Administration). They have it on radar and the whole works," Kalohi said.

Some Waikiki-area residents complained the departure by the first wave of four was the loudest jet noise they had ever heard. One thought a plane was going to crash.

"My friend and I were working the midnight shift when four jets one by one took off and flew over us (it was loud) near the Sports Authority store on Ward (Avenue)," said Darryl S. Oku in an e-mail to The Advertiser. "Shortly thereafter, two huge military aircraft followed."

Kalohi said the F-22A Raptors from the 27th Fighter Squadron, which stopped at Hickam en route back to Langley Air Force Base, Va., create about the same noise as the Hawai'i Air National Guard's F-15 fighters that are routinely seen training over Honolulu.

But the F-22A fighters were fitted with external fuel tanks and had orders to be back in Virginia before sunset, requiring the early-morning takeoff, Kalohi said. The extra weight required a "maximum-thrust takeoff" with full afterburners, Kalohi said.

"They were here and did the same thing in February, and nobody complained," Kalohi said on Friday. She said weather conditions with low cloud cover could have amplified the noise, but was not sure why residents reported the first wave being louder than the second.

Kalohi said she received about a half-dozen noise complaints. She ruled out the possibility that the jets deviated from the flight path to buzz residents.

"In one of today's hottest aircraft, you are not going to find a pilot who's going to be goofing off ... " she said. "They are not going to threaten their careers with poor judgment."

She said there is no Air Force inquiry into what happened because "there's no reason" to have one.

After almost three months in the Pacific, 10 F-22As departed Kadena, Japan, on May 9 Hawai'i time, upon completion of the first overseas deployment for the Air Force's newest air-supremacy aircraft.

Two aircraft were delayed in Japan because of maintenance issues. While at Kadena, the squadron flew more than 600 sorties.

The Air Force wants to base 20 of the new fighters in Hawai'i starting in late 2010.

The Hawai'i Air National Guard will be the first Guard unit to "own" the aircraft, while the active-duty Air Force at Hickam will be an associate unit and also fly and maintain the aircraft.

The fighters can reach supersonic speed without afterburners, are highly maneuverable and have reduced visibility to radar.

Reach William Cole at wcole@honoluluadvertiser.com.