Posted on 01/05/2023 8:48:16 AM PST by Paal Gulli
About three weeks ago we had a discussion here about an F-35B stealth fighter that had a mishap on landing at Fort Worth Naval Air Station. It was being flown by a USMC pilot but he was performing pre-delivery evaluation flights for Lockheed Martin. Now the military has halted deliveries on F-35B engines pending further investigation (which is a pretty good indication the pilot was exonerated).
The source article is at Defense News -dot- Com (under heading "Air Warfare"), which I apparently am forbidden to post from. So look it up if you're a mind to.
It was at the USMC's insistence that the "B" version of the new Joint Strike Fighter be created so they could ditch their old VERTOL AV-8 Harrier "jump-jets" for something supersonic but still capable of short-roll take-offs and vertical landings (STOVL).
Of course we will need to wait for the formal accident report, but from the video of the event that was posted, it seemed to me to be a loss of lift thrust that caused the accident.
Seeing uncharacteristic puffs of white smoke exiting the rear of the aircraft (while the exhaust nozzle was point down, so it had to have come from the engine bay area) just prior to the accident, and the way the aircraft dropped and then pitched nose forward after the hard bounce, it appears to me that either the clutch or the driveshaft for the front lift fan failed.
I also read another story in The Drive's War Zone that the F-35B can automatically eject the pilot without his/her command.
So the ejection could have been automatic once the aircraft returned to a safe ejection attitude after spinning on the ground.
But again that's just speculation and we'll have to wait a year for the final accident report.
“I also read another story in The Drive’s War Zone that the F-35B can automatically eject the pilot without his/her command.”
So I guess you gotta be careful what you say to her and don’t get too handsy on the first date.
F-35 is still a piece of junk.
VSTOL F-35s
Truely assinine
-fJRoberts-
If it’s bad, why do the pilots love it.
I live in Fort Worth and have met several while out and about.
“F-35 is still a piece of junk.”
I know a lot of pilots. They LOVE the F-35. What do you fly?
Just because owning and driving a corvette is fun, doesn’t mean it’s practical in dragging luggage around or doing any real hard actual work.
“VANITY: Fort Worth mishap prompts military to cease taking deliveries on F-35B Joint Strike Fighter engines”
Take that, Putin!!!
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