F-35 stealth jump jet has lost 4.5% of testing time due to grounding orders March 25, 2013
Posted by Richard Clements in : F-35 , add a commentA question posed in Britain’s Houses of Parliament on Mar. 20 by Scottish Politician Angus Robertson highlighted the amount of time the F-35 development program has been lost due to grounding orders for the jet.
The exact question which was posed to the Secretary of State for defense was as follows: “To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many days of flight testing have occurred and how many days of flight testing have been lost due to grounding of the aircraft since delivery of the first Joint Strike Fighter.”
The answer he got was very concise and quite surprising.
Philip Dunne said: “From the start of Flight Test on Jun. 11, 2008 to Feb. 27, 2013, there have been a total of 6,382 Development Flight Test days of F-35B Short Take-Off and Vertical Landing (STOVL) aircraft. Over this period, the equivalent of 285 days of Development Flight Test on F-35B aircraft did not take place while aircraft were grounded, or 4.5% of the maximum available flight days.”
The questions posed are done so in advance to give the British government chance to answer accurately; also known as Prime Minister’s question time this takes place on a weekly basis usually on a Wednesday in the Houses of Parliament in London.
After selecting the F-35C CV (Carrier Variant) British Prime Minister David Cameron’s Goverment reverted to the initial decision to order the STOVL (Short Take Off Vertical Landing) version of the Joint Strike Fighter to equip UK’s future supercarriers.
Image credit: Lockheed Martin
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F-35B grounded by fueldraulic system problem January 18, 2013
Posted by David Cenciotti in : F-35 , 5commentsAlmost one year ago today (on Jan. 20, 2012), citing the progress the F-35B STOVL (Short take off vertical landing) variant made in 2011, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta rescinded probation for the F-35B, about one year ahead of schedule.
The STOVL had come close to be scrapped after technical issues along with massive cost over runs had put the monumentally complex version at risk.
However, when it looked like it had solved all those problems that had jeopardized its survival, the STOVL (Short Take Off Vertical Landing) version of the F-35 Lightning II 5th generation fighter plane, found another possibly major issue to face.
On Jan. 18, 2013, Defense News was the first media to spread the news that the DoD office in charge of the F-35 program has grounded the F-35B variant of the Joint Strike Fighter for precautionary reasons after a test flight at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, was aborted by the pilot as the plane was conducting a conventional takeoff roll.
The temporary flight ban involves all the STOVL aircraft operating at Eglin, Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, Arizona, and Lockheed’s production factory in Fort Worth.
Image credit: Lockheed Martin
According to Defense News’s Aaron Mehta the abort was caused by “a failure to a propulsion fueldraulic line, which enables movement in the actuators for the STOVL’s exhaust system.”
Whilst Pratt & Whitney and Rolls-Royce engineers investigate the incident on the P&W engines that have successfully completed almost 25,000 hours of testing, the other two variants (A – conventional, and C – Carrier Variant), are not affected by the grounding.
Along with the U.S. Marine Corps, Italy (both Air Force and Navy) and the UK are going to be equipped with the F-35B. At least, they hope so…:)
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Photo: F-35B hovering in the darkness as seen through the Night Vision Goggles December 20, 2012
Posted by David Cenciotti in : F-35 , add a commentThe following awesome pictures show the F-35B STOVL (Short Take Off Vertical Landing) aircraft BF-4 hovering in the darkness during a night test flight at NAS Patuxent River, Maryland, on Dec. 13, 2012.
NVGs concentrate and intensify light by optical means the typical monochrome green tint of the night vision goggles is by design: it is the one that is better perceived and distingued by the human eye.
Image credit: Lockheed Martin
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UK to stand up its first F-35 Squadron in 2014 December 2, 2012
Posted by Richard Clements in : F-35 , add a commentThe first two UK pilots have begun their training to fly the F-35 at Elgin AFB, Florida.
The two pilots are part of a small band of only 30 pilots that are either learning to fly the jet or have actually flown it. Royal Air Force Squadron Leader Franki Buchler and Royal Navy Lt. Cdr. Ian Tidball have joined U.S Marines Fighter Attack Training Squadron 501, which is charged with the initial training on the F-35B, the version that has been purchased by the UK (after a rethink or two..).
It is thought along with the two pilots, 12 engineers (maintainers), 2 supervisors and all of their families have moved from the UK.
According to the nwf news website this group will be joined in 2014 by another pilot and around 50 more maintainers and will head to Edwards AFB Ca. and will stand up their own UK squadron to combat test the jet. It would be around this time that the UK will write down its methods of operating the new stealthy jet in a combat situation, tactics and getting the best out of the jet that sort of thing. It is thought the UK F-35B will carry Storm Shadow, SPEAR, a missionised gun and METEOR air to air missile.
The nwf site says that the UK group have been told that they are operating as Marines by their commander Wing Commander Jon Millington whom was quoted as saying “I told them, You are part of that Marine squad. Embrace it. Enjoy it. You won’t have a chance to be a Marine again.”
Image credit: DoD
The group has been taking part in squad runs and they have noticed that the Marines require more physical training than what they are used to, but Millington thought it a good thing and said “It’s going to get my fitness back into shape.”
Millington said that the Marines have bent over backwards to make them feel that they are Marines (that have recently activated the world’s first operational squadron at MCAS Yuma), so much so some even invited the Brits to celebrate Thanksgiving with their families. Marine Col. Art Tomassetti was quoted as saying “The F-35 would not be here today if it wasn’t for the U.K.” and went on to acknowledge the United Kingdom has the most knowledge on earth about short take off and vertical landing capabilities.
Two of the U.K’s development aircraft are already at Eglin and will be joined in February 2013 by the third and final development jet; these three jets are expected to fly to the UK in the 2018 timeframe.
Richard Clements for TheAviationist.com
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The F-35B in this flight test photo looks like a Transformer in the act of transforming October 26, 2012
Posted by David Cenciotti in : F-35 , add a commentThe following air-to-air photo shows an F-35B, the STOVL (Short Take Off Vertical Landing) version of the Joint Strike Fighter, during a test flight.
Maybe it’s because it was taken as it was extending the landing gear with opened lift fan doors for vertical flight, but don’t you think the most costly aircraft in U.S. history looks like a Transformer in the act of transforming?
Image credit: Lockheed Martin
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