Posted on 09/22/2023 6:44:40 AM PDT by CaptainK
The pilot of a $100million F35 fighter jet who ejected over South Carolina over the weekend can be heard pleading for an ambulance and admitting he his 'not sure' where his plane is in astonishing newly-released audio of a 911 call.
The unnamed pilot, a 47-year-old with decades of flying experience, parachuted into a resident's back yard from 2,000ft after the super-advanced stealth aircraft suffered a malfunction over Charlesto
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
sonic booms seem to be a thing of the past
55% of the time. Look it up
Key fob. Made me laugh.
That known thunderstorm issue has to do with a system that injects nitrogen into the fuel tank as it empties. A spark from lightening can cause a tank with oxygen to explode. That system was poorly designed and can be damaged in maintenance.
The plane obviously did not explode, so that concern has zero to do with whatever happened.
It also was never an issue on the B models.
In short, that argument was floated by an idiot who doesn’t understand cause and effect.
LMAO
Just a retired Air Force guy saying you could be in danger, but you’re probably not.
Not many people know that John Bobbitt (yes, that one) was one of those. He met Lorena at Quantico, which is why he was living in Manassas at the time of the incident, Manassas being only about 15 miles from Quantico.
Re: 2 - no doubt there are whack jobs that believe that.
Problem Exists Between Chait and Keyboard, PEBCAK.
From the CBOs 2022 report:
". In 2021, the availability rates of all three fleets of F-35s were higher than those of most of DoD’s other fighters. The F-35 fleets are much newer than most other fighters, and newer fleets typically have higher availability rates than older ones.
Squadron commander?
Hey! Who you callin’ a whack job?! 🤣
Ah, the banana-stick interlink?
I'm guessing at 47 YO, he is a very high ranking officer. Probably an O-5 or O-6 logging hours for flight pay.
The scariest ride I ever had was an O-6 Wing Commander sitting in the left seat of a C-141 shooting touch and go's at Altus. When he left the plane, the crew chief asked if we had crashed for the final time??
“…bizarre…”
Really? Was he supposed to call a mechanic when he obviously thought he needed medical attention?
The F-35 air fleet was included as a line item in last year’s annual defense budget, but the Pentagon remains “behind schedule” in maintaining the fighter jets, the Government Accountability Office found.
The GAO report also showed the $100-million-apiece F-35s are capable of performing missions just 55% of the time, and more than 10,000 of the aircraft have been grounded for repairs. Just 450 are currently fielded.
But no tray load/reload capability.
An aircraft can be flown even if it is not fully mission capable. If a fleet is grounded, no one flies.
The F-35 fleet true goundings have been of a very short duration generally and typical of all branches flying them, to do special inspections or TCTOs when fleetwide problems are found.
The data you cited says "10,000 of the aircraft have been grounded for repairs. Just 450 are currently fielded." There is a disconnect there. The entire US military doesn't have 10,000 aircraft.
Speaking only USAF numbers, The B-1B, F-22 and VT-22 all have mission capable rates in the 50% range or less. The C-5M is dismal. Conversely the F-16 is in the very high 70%s which is considered very good. The higher the technology, the harder it is to get 100% of the systems operating on a single aircraft. This is a lesson that needs to be re-learned by those who are proponents of unmanned next gen fighters.
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