Posted on 01/19/2011 5:01:32 PM PST by ErnstStavroBlofeld
F-35B vertical landings are like buses, you wait ages for one then three come along all at once. Aircraft BF-2 did three VLs in one day - Jan 13 - taking the fleet total to 15 since March 2010 and moving the program closer to the target of 42 vertical landings required to clear the F-35B for initial ship trials.BF-2 was instrumented for STOVL-mode flight tests after the first F-35B, aircraft BF-1, encountered mechanical reliability issues that slowed testing. Ship clearance was planned by the end of 2010, with STOVL trials on the USS Wasp scheduled for March, but by year-end BF-1 had logged only 10 VLs, seven of which counted towards the total required.
(Excerpt) Read more at aviationweek.com ...
I assume that the plane is actually horizontal while traveling vertically to land.
I’ve always wondered why they don’t just use helicopters for VTOL. Last I heard helicopters were a proven technology.
STOVL use tends to allow aircraft to carry a larger payload as compared to during VTOL use, while still only requiring a short runway. It is also very good to have STOVL in case your runway is blown to bits.
STOVL use tends to allow aircraft to carry a larger payload as compared to during VTOL use, while still only requiring a short runway. It is also very good to have STOVL in case your runway is blown to bits.
I’ve always wondered why they don’t just use helicopters for VTOL. Last I heard helicopters were a proven technology.
Helicopters can’t break the speed of sound and there effective combat radius is very short.
I hear they get a bit wobbly when they approach Mach 1.
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