"JOINT STRIKE FIGHTER - The F-35 Lightning II sits on the tarmac after some testing Thursday at Edwards Air Force Base. The Air Force Flight Test Center will host the F-35 Lightning II flight test program."BERNARD KANE/Valley Press
Posted on 10/24/2008 7:46:49 PM PDT by BenLurkin
EDWARDS AFB - The brief yet productive visit here by the nation's newest fighter is but a taste of things to come as the Air Force Flight Test Center prepares to host the F-35 Lightning II flight test program. The first F-35 test aircraft, dubbed AA-1, arrived at Edwards on Oct. 1 following the model's first cross-country flight from the Lockheed Martin Aeronautics production facility in Fort Worth.
After three weeks of successful flight tests, it is scheduled to return to Texas today .
The F-35 will be a major program for the Antelope Valley, employing hundreds of people in the production of center fuselages by Northrop Grumman and the manufacturing of specialized parts by Lockheed Martin Aeronautics, in addition to the flight testing that will be conducted at Edwards.
Plans call for the production of more than 2,400 F-35 aircraft to meet the needs of the U.S. military. Program officials envision hundreds of additional aircraft being produced for allied nations.
The first aircraft was brought to Edwards for tests involving stopping and restarting the engine in flight.
Edwards is "the only logical place for this type of test," said Col. William Thornton, commander of the 412th Flight Test Wing.
The base's remote location away from densely populated areas and beneath a wide swath of restricted airspace, coupled with the emergency landing capabilities of Rogers Dry Lake, make it the ideal place for tests in which the aircraft engine is shut down.
"We've got God's greatest gift to the flight test business" in the lake bed, Pearson said. "It's exactly the right place to come to do this kind of work."
(Excerpt) Read more at avpress.com ...
"JOINT STRIKE FIGHTER - The F-35 Lightning II sits on the tarmac after some testing Thursday at Edwards Air Force Base. The Air Force Flight Test Center will host the F-35 Lightning II flight test program."BERNARD KANE/Valley Press
Is this piloted? /My respects to everyone for asking that but...
It’s got a cockpit for robotical convenience.
Yes — later in the article one of the test pilots calls it “a pilot’s plane”.
Yes, it’s piloted. The F35 and F22 are probably the last piloted fighters for the US. Afterwards, future fighters will either be auotamted or remote controlled.
It’s beautiful.
I was auotamted once. I got better, though.
Bookmarking for sweet pics to come.
Once automated, nothing can go worng, go wring, goe wong, go rung, go gnorw.
Khaki screen of death?
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