F-35 Flight Test Update 4
22 March 2011
As of mid-March 2011, the five F-35Bs flying at NAS Patuxent River, Maryland, have completed a total of 316 flights and seventy-three vertical landings.
F-35 Flight Test Update 3
10 November 2010
The previous installment of the F-35 Flight Test Update ended with F-35A AF-1 completing its fiftieth flight on 27 August 2010. Since then, the aircraft has been flown an additional thirty flights and a total of more than 140 flight hours.
Diverterless Supersonic Inlet
6 November 2010
At high aircraft speeds through supersonic, the bump in the inlet works with the forward-swept inlet cowl to redirect unwanted boundary layer airflow away from the inlet, essentially doing the job of heavier, more complex, and more costly diverters used by current fighters. The flight test program consisted of twelve flights flown in nine days in December 1996.
F-35 In Anechoic Chamber
25 October 2010
Anechoic testing on F-35A AF-3 included operating the APG-81 radar, the electronic warfare system, the tactical air navigation system, the identification friend or foe system, and the radar altimeter.
F-35 Flight Test Update 2
15 September 2010
The previous installment of the F-35 Flight Test Update ended with the first vertical landing of an F-35B. Since then, US Marine Corps and Lockheed Martin pilots flying the short takeoff/vertical landing version of the F-35 have gone on to complete an additional nine vertical landings. More than sixty flights have been completed in BF-1, the first F-35B. The F-35B fleet has accumulated more than 200 hours of flight time in more than 160 flights. This gallery covers F-35 flight test milestones from 1 April to 27 August 2010.
F-35 CATBird
2 August 2010
F-35 Cooperative Avionics Test Bed, also known as CATBird, is a flying laboratory used primarily to test and develop mission system avionics for the F-35 Lightning II.
F-35 Flight Test Update 1
20 April 2010
As of 23 March 2010, nine pilots have flown more than 200 hours and 160 flights in the System Development and Demonstration phase of the F-35 program. Gallery covers F-35 flight test milestones from 14 November 2009 to 18 March 2010.
Lightning Site
5 September 2009
The F-35 helmet displays airspeed, altitude, rate of climb, and the aiming information for all the weapons. The helmet even displays all the information needed should something go wrong.
Going Vertical
1 July 2009
Hover pit testing for the F-35B quantifies propulsion and flight control system performance. One of the major outcomes of pit testing is an accurate measurement of the thrust from the propulsion system and the engine.
F-35 Perspectives
15 September 2008
Standing behind the F-35 test aircraft, 5,000-plus sorties, and 10,000 flight test hours associated with the SDD phase of the Joint Strike Fighter is a large group of dedicated professionals from the Flight Test department. Code One interviewed several of these professionals to get their perspectives on F-35 flight testing.