First STOVL sortie at Eglin for a RAF pilot

On Feb. 25, Royal Air Force pilot, Squadron Leader Hugh Nichols, flew in a U.S. Marine Corps F-35B Lightning II during the first short take-off and vertical landing sortie by a United Kingdom pilot at Eglin Air Force Base, in Florida, where British pilots and ground crews are undertaking training alongside their Marines counterparts.

The USMC began flying STOVL sorties at Eglin in October last year.

Beginning in 2018, the F-35B STOVL (Short Take Off Vertical Landing) should operate from Royal Navy’s Queen Elizabeth aircraft carriers.

Image credit: U.S. Air Force

Related articles

• RAF pilot performs first UK takeoff of F-35B Lightning at sea
• Eurofighter Typhoon cockpit as you’ve never seen it before
• NVG video: F-35B Accomplishes First Night Vertical Landing Aboard USS WASP
• Join the Swedish Air Force on a reconnaissance sortie with a Gripen during IAM2014
• Dutch Government says their F-35 fighter jets could carry nuclear weapons
• “Dambusters” Squadron’s final mission. Will reform and get F-35B in 2018.
• These are the first images of UK’s classified unmanned stealth “superdrone”