F-35 Lightning II Takes Maiden Flight

Team Infidel

Forum Spin Doctor
Dallas Morning News
December 16, 2006
Joint Strike Fighter test was a success, Lockheed says
By Victor Godinez, The Dallas Morning News
The F-35 Lightning II – the Joint Strike Fighter – successfully completed its first test flight in Fort Worth on Friday afternoon, Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co. said.
The jet flew for about 40 minutes with its landing gear down the entire time, reaching a speed of 225 knots (about 260 miles per hour) and an altitude of 15,000 feet.
Lockheed had hoped to briefly raise and lower the gear during the flight, but a minor problem with one sensor led test pilot Jon Beesley to land the plane before he could test the gear.
"The primary objective of a first flight is to take off, make sure the systems work, and then come back safely," Mr. Beesley said after the flight. "We did those, and that's really the majority of the mission right there."
The F-35 program executive officer, Brig. Gen. C.R. Davis, said that Lockheed will soon have about one test flight per week.
"There were very few surprises on this flight, and that's good," he said.
The roughly $275 billion contract to build more than 2,400 planes for the Air Force, Marines and Navy is the largest defense project in U.S. history.
More than 700 additional F-35s are expected to be ordered by other countries.
Lockheed has estimated that it could eventually sell as many as 4,500 of the jets.
The Lightning II is designed to replace several older, specialized aircraft, including the F-16, F/A-18 and A-10.
Shares of parent company Lockheed Martin Corp. lost 21 cents to close at $90.04.
 
The A-10 will be a tough plane to replace. It remains to be seen how well the F-35 will do in fulfilling the role of the A-10 Warthog.
 
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I like the jump-jet style. The USSR tooled around with something similar to that system in the late 1980s with the Yak-141.
 
So waitaminute...all those vids we've been seeing on TV with the F-35 flying around were just digital creations?
 
Hmmm...I could have sworn I saw videos of the JSF in flight on the Military Channel and the History Channel...
 
Hmmm...I could have sworn I saw videos of the JSF in flight on the Military Channel and the History Channel...

That is very possible. There is always a FAT article to be used as a test bed just to make sure the concept will fly. This exercise with the F-22 in Ft. Worth may have been the first time to test speed, climb rate, and G forces. I have seen a video on Military.com where a pilot takes off in a JSF and he was the first to do a short takeoff, then go to supersonic and hover and land. That was back in 2001.
 
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Prototypes were flown during the competition between the X-32 and X-35, that's probably what you saw, LT.

I'm guessing this article refers to a fully functional, production model?
 
Prototypes were flown during the competition between the X-32 and X-35, that's probably what you saw, LT.

I'm guessing this article refers to a fully functional, production model?


Well every model aircraft has to have a prototype in order to be a functional system.
 
Okay, so I'm not losing my marbles (shut up Sevens and TI :p ) -- I just saw a show on the Discovery Channel (FutureWeapons) and the footage it shows looks of the JSF flying around look awful real -- in-cockpit shots, footage of the JSF doing a vertical takeoff, etc. :?

FWIW, the roman year at the end indicated 2006, so I can't imagine they filmed the first flight in early December and got it to broadcast by the end of the month...
 
Bump -- I think I figured it out.

TI posted an article about the F-35's first flight; but it existed before as the X-35 prior to being selected as the JSF, and THAT's probably what's been flying around...
 
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