Posted on 11/04/2010 7:58:11 PM PDT by ErnstStavroBlofeld
Good progress is being made in flight testing by the CTOL and CV versions. F-35B STOVL mode flights have resumed, but the variant is still behind schedule. However, it is neither the CTOL nor the CV model that holds the current speed and g-load records for the F-35. That honor befalls the F-35B STOVL. Recently the jet accomplished Mach 1.32 and 7 g's, the maximum g's the STOVL is designed for.
(Excerpt) Read more at f-16.net ...
Perhaps we're getting scared or sissified.
Build, fly the edge, kill people, iterate.
This crap of over-engineering is counter-productive, and slows down progress.
/johnny
“jet accomplished Mach 1.32”
Gosh! Thats even faster than an F-86 Sabre!!
Its a new plane so give it some slack.
You BET! No slack needed for a sweet ride like THAT!! Sounds like a swell machine,, the Mig-15s are sure in for a nasty surprise!
Its going to be a very sucessful plane. The F-35 and F-15SE are my favorites
Man up, for God's sake. It works or it doesn't. Fly it like you mean it or cancel it.
Today's so-called development programs make me cringe. Our fathers are rolling in their graves over our timidity.
I'm sure there have been no Class A accidents on lots of programs, but that's just an indication that folks are being scared or lazy.
If you're going to do something great, expect explosions. People might die. Congress and the funders might need to get over it, learn something and move forward.
/johnny
You must remember there a lot of new technologies on that plane because its a fifth generation plane. You need to get the bugs out before manufacuting.When it enters in to service, it would be the most technologically advanced plane in the world.
The new Sukhois may eat it for lunch, though. And we won't know until they crank on the hardware and make it groan.
BTW, I don't know, but I really do expect that somewhere, out there, some small country is still using the MIG-15 operationally. It's like the AK. It just keeps working.
/johnny
HAR! Ever hear of a TCTO?
No plane that flies is right. Every one has a problem that needs fixed. They only ground them for red-X. Otherwise, they fly.
And since no-one has been killed in the testing, it's pretty clear they are being too conservative.
What happened to the guys that made things happen back in the '60s?
/johnny
I’m sure all reports will say it is “superb”. (while Sukhois, MiGs, F-16s, etc all out-run it.) And when we get to the “D” model, we should put a bubble canopy on it too!
That really the best the USA can put out,, the F-35? Really??
I hate to rain on the parade, but electronics is it’s only strong suit. It seems nobody notices that that rest of the world BUILDS the best electronics. When someone hangs that electronics on a Machine that also goes Mach2+ with longer legs,,,the F-35 will be seen as a masterpiece of procurement officer career success, committees, and of international corporate tactics buying the right politics.
You bring up very good points.
This is a shit sandwitch, and I'm not taking a bite of it.
/johnny
The F-35 program will be canceled within five years, partly for budgetary reasons, partly because of the bugs, and partly because “partner nations” are beginning to back out.
You do have a point
I thought that they contain a lot of fibre
I hate to say this, but these planes are really expensive (so are the pilots) so maybe that is why they are so risk-adverse these days. Also, there isn’t really any pressing adversarial development such as there was during the Cold War.
With no computers running simulations, they really didn’t know in the 40’s, 50’s, and maybe even to the early 60’s as to whether or not a plane would actually fly well at higher speeds (or, in some cases, at any speed :)). At least that aspect of development is a safer bet now.
So, to keep the money rolling in, they slow things down to keep BAD THINGS FROM HAPPENING.
And that's what we get. A fighter jet that's slower than the B-58 bomber.
Are lives more valuable now than in the 60's?
And your allusion to computer sims... they don't actually work. All the computer sims HAD to be adjusted with real-world data.
And where does that come from? Crazy men in flight suits with brown stains in the back.
/johnny
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.