Posted on 09/18/2023 8:15:21 AM PDT by servo1969
Those F-35 stealth fighters must be even closer to invisible than I thought because the Marines lost one on Sunday and nobody can find it.
A Marine piloting the special vertical takeoff and landing version, the F-35B, suffered some kind of “mishap” and was forced to eject over South Carolina. He ejected safely. He’s fine. We can go on and laugh. The plane, however, was nowhere to be found. Weighing in at over 32,000 pounds even when it isn’t filled with jet fuel, you’d think the missing jet would be easy to find, but no.
There was genuine concern that the autopilot might have been on, meaning that there was an $80 million fighter jet gently cruising around over South Carolina with no pilot and no canopy. Sunday drivers, amirite?
So whoever runs the social media for Joint Base Charleston took to Twitter to ask for help finding the super-invisible stealth fighter.
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An early report from NBC noted that “The jet was left in autopilot mode so there’s a possibility it could still be airborne somewhere over South Carolina.” That was early Sunday evening. Surely, it’s run out of fuel by now. (Yes, and don’t call me Shirley.)
But no one seems to have seen or heard the thing crash.
(Excerpt) Read more at pjmedia.com ...
Newest Tik Tok challenge.
While reports say it flamed out and augered in...I can tell you one of the planes had a missing sidewinder on return.
LOL! I imagine that baby is under the sea with Disney’s Little Mermaid.
Left on AUTO PILOT???
yep, I want to know more....
THAT makes more sense than anything I’ve read!
Could the pilot be LYING?? What’s his name?? Could he have landed somewhere and another pilot took it over?
so he turned off the IFF/transponder before punching out... is that it???
YES!! There is WAY more to this story!! Don’t the Marines have RADAR???
Thanks - really strange to bail out of a plane that isn’t about to crash!
Try “on its way to Russia or China”
“So, ATC radar no work?”
No it didn’t, F-35 has effective stealth characteristics. For this mission, it was in full stealth configuration, no radar reflector.
I'm wondering the same thing -- just what was this "mishap"? 🤔
F35-B VTOL 14000 lbs of fuel
7957 liters
Consumption is 600 liters per hour
Range is 900nm.
The thing took off in Beuford, SC
900 nm radius is a long way.
“Don’t the Marines have RADAR???”
F-35 has effective stealth characteristics. For this mission, it was in full stealth configuration, no radar reflector.
My first thought was the Chinese are taking it apart in Cuba. This story smells like a rat.
Somebody needs to add the phone number and email addy to that graphic. Could be fun.
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