[wastedyears]

I thought the F-35 has already flown.

[BurbankKarl]

Oh, in Die Hard 4?

This is the first military pilot to fly it....so the others were contractor test pilots.

[Vroomfondel]

I thought the F-35 has already flown.

Sure, with Lockheed test pilots. This is the first flight by a government pilot.

[Tallguy]

Lockheed Martin vs. USAF pilot. This is the first USAF pilot.

It’s really the same situation as the Bell X1 project where Chalmers “Slick” Goodlin was the Bell test pilot involved in the initial flight acceptance of the jet under USAF contract.

Once the USAF took possession, it was Chuck Yeager & his flight test team that actually flew the thing past the sound barrier & to record altitudes.

Interestingly, “The Right Stuff” makes it look like Goodlin & Yeager were in competition for the first supersonic flight. It probably wasn’t the case since the USAF was interested in getting the plane before the ‘real’ testing began.