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Maj. Joseph T. Bachmann became the first US Marine Corps pilot to fly the F-35 Lightning II on 19 March, logging the flight test program’s ninetieth mission. Bachmann took off from the Lockheed Martin facility in Fort Worth, Texas, and flew the aircraft to 15,000 feet, checking handling qualities and engine response before landing seventy-five minutes later. Bachmann’s first flight came in F-35 AA-1, a conventional takeoff and landing test variant. With more than 2,000 hours of flight time in more than thirty different aircraft types, Bachmann is the second active duty service member and the fifth test pilot to fly the F-35.
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