Third Lockheed Martin F-35B Lands At NAS Patuxent River

Air-Attack.com ^ | 2/19/2010 | Lockheed Martin

[ErnstStavroBlofeld]

Piloted by Lockheed Martin F-35 Test Pilot Jeff Knowles, the third F-35B Lightning II short takeoff/vertical landing (STOVL) stealth fighter landed at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md., today.

"Today, the third of our five STOVL test jets joined the F-35 fleet at the Test Center as our flight test program initiates the expansion of the F-35's flight-sciences envelope," said Tom Burbage, Lockheed Martin executive vice president and general manager of F-35 Program Integration. "Our focus remains on fielding the F-35's tremendous capabilities to our warfighters, recapitalizing our nation’s aging fighter fleet, and meeting our commitments to the F-35 partner nations."

The jet, known as BF-3, took off near Lockheed Martin’s Fort Worth plant at 9:51 a.m. CST and arrived at NAS Patuxent River three hours and 10 minutes later. BF-3 joins two other F-35Bs at the Navy test site, and will be used mainly to evaluate vehicle systems and expand the aircraft’s aerodynamic and structural-loads envelope. The airplane will also focus on weapons testing, and will carry and release most of the weapons the F-35B will use in combat. Two more F-35Bs will join the test operation in the near future. The latter airplanes will be the primary test assets for the F-35’s integrated mission systems.

In addition to flight testing, the F-35 Program is using the Autonomic Logistic Information System (ALIS) for maintenance actions, spares tracking and technical data support.ALIS is part of the F-35’s innovative sustainment architecture monitored by the F-35 Autonomic Logistics Global Sustainment (ALGS) Operations Center in Fort Worth. The early deploymentof the F-35 net-enabled logistics system to be used by all nine partner countries helps ensure the F-35's smooth transition to operational status, and is a key enabler for lower life cycle costs.

[Terpfen]

The F-35 is smaller, is meant to fill multiple roles, and it sucks at all of them.

[A.A. Cunningham]

That and about $100 million dollars and 1,000 mph.

Wrong on both counts.

[A.A. Cunningham]

STOL(sic) version of the F-35 uses

The Naval variant, F-35C, is known as the CV - Carrier Variant - not STOL.

the tailhook that the USAF doesn't want to drag around.

That would be a break from historical practice.

F-15

F-16

F-22 Raptor Kadena AFB landing with tail hook

Still an STOL carrier stealth aircraft is a big step up from the 1970-era F-14.

This aircraft can't match many of the performance characteristics of the F-14.

F-17(sic) is only slightly newer.

The F-17 doesn't exist. The prototype YF-17 became the F/A-18.

The VTOL(sic) F-35

The F-35B is known as the STOVL - Short Take Off/ Vertical Landing variant - not VTOL.

loads an engine(sic) inside to give vertical thrust

Shaft driven lift fan.

[Yo-Yo]

Whats the two smaller doors for?

Those are Auxiliary Inlet Doors. They allow extra air into the engine during STOVL operation.

[MosesKnows]

Keep 'em comin'

Great comment. I won't tell you the "F" number when I first went to Pax but it only had one digit.

I bet you remember the Belvedere and the Roost.

[Bryan24]

After seeing that particularly revealing chart, I’m beginning to wonder if the powers-that-be are leaving the F-22 production run low on purpose to make the cost look that much better for the F-35.

IMO, one mistake that is made over and over is to try and make your airframe do more than what is originally intended when the Request For Proposeal is sent out.

After reading about the F-35 development for years, I believe it will become an albatross around the Navy’s neck. If they even accept it.

[PLMerite]

Cool pictures. Somewhere I have a picture of a P-51D Mustang/Seahorse arresting on a carrier.

[Tallguy]

Nobody has figured out how to do STOVL with multiple engines in a conventional layout. How would you synchronize the thrust precisely without enducing a roll problem?

[Tallguy]

So it is not vertical take off, but short take off and land STOL?

Taking off vertically is too expensive in terms of fuel. You also can't carry much of a weapons load. Hence you use a short takeoff roll.

[Tallguy]

The Navy carrier version of the F-35 has a broader wing to allow for better low-speed characteristics — safer carrier landing approaches. You also get the bonus of more volume to store fuel. Might be a better dogfighter than the USAF version, too, since greater wing area usually leads to a more maneuverable design.

I think that some USAF aircraft now incorporate a tailhook. Pretty sure the F-16 does. The idea is to use a portable arresting gear system to allow for landings on cratered runways.

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

Maryland PING!

[Robert A Cook PE]

Thank you for the details. And corrections.

[Robert A Cook PE]

Steel tires for testing so they don’t burn up rubber ones during long runs on the test grating?