F-35C DT-II On The USS Eisenhower
29 January 2016
The F-35C Carrier Suitability Test Team deployed aboard the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69) for Developmental Test Phase Two (DT-II) in October 2015. Trials with F-35C test aircraft CF-03 and CF-05 spanned nine days in operating areas near the Atlantic coast between Florida and Virginia. DT-II followed a successful round of initial sea trials in 2014.
F-117 Nighthawk Memories
24 August 2015
Two months shy of twenty-seven years since it was first flown, the F-117 was retired in ceremonies on 21 April 2008 at Holloman AFB, New Mexico, where it had been operated by the 49th Fighter Wing since 1992, and then on 22 April in Palmdale, California, for the people who had designed and built it at the then-Lockheed facilities there.
F-16 MATV
20 April 2015
The Multi-Axis Thrust Vectoring system allowed the F-16 to maneuver effectively beyond its twenty-five degree angle of attack limit to almost 100 degrees AOA.
F-35 Aerial Refuel Testing
9 April 2015
F-35B test aircraft BF-17 was flown over Edwards AFB, California, during several aerial refueling missions behind KC-135 Stratotanker and KC-10 Extender tankers. The tests involved a drogue adapter attached to the centerline refueling boom on the KC-135 and the hose-and-drogue refueling system on the KC-10.
F-35 Climatic Testing
1 April 2015
Every major US weapon system and its associated equipment make the trek to Eglin to undergo environmental testing at the lab. The F-35 is the latest to be frozen, baked, deluged, snowed, blown, fogged, and humidified.
F-35A Lightning II Images
5 March 2015
Various images of F-35A Lightning II.
F-35B Lightning II Images
5 March 2015
F-35B Lightning II photo collection.
F-35C Lightning II Images
5 March 2015
Various photos of F-35C Lightning II aircraft.
F-35 Flight Test Update 14
20 January 2015
The previous F-35 Flight Test Update concluded with F-35A test aircraft AF-3 completing 500 flight hours on 18 March 2013, making AF-3 the second mission systems test Lightning II to reach this milestone. This fourteenth installment in the series of F-35 flight testing reviews presents a large variety of additional milestones for the F-35 test fleet from a monthly flight record for the F-35 CATBird in March to the completion of the initial carrier trials for the F-35C in November.
F-35 Flight Test Update 13
12 May 2014
The previous F-35 Flight Test Update concluded with the first live guided missile launch from an F-35 on 30 October 2013. This first installment of 2014 and the thirteenth installment overall in the series of F-35 flight testing reviews presents a variety of subsequent weapon testing, including additional guided AIM-120 missile launches and guided GBU-32 drops for the F-35A, AIM-120 separation tests for the F-35C, and ten-weapon loads for the F-35A and F-35C. High angle of attack testing continued with the beginning of intentional departure tests of the F-35C at the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division test facility at NAS Patuxent River, Maryland. The F-35 System Development and Demonstration Program set flight duration records and surpassed 4,000 total test flights during this period as well.