F-35 Flight Test Update 8

1 February 2012: The F-35 System Development and Demonstration, or SDD, test fleet surpassed 1,500 total test flights with this takeoff of F-35B BF-2 from NAS Patuxent River, Maryland.

14 February 2012: 300th Vertical Landing

16 February 2012:  An F-35A conventional takeoff and landing aircraft at Edwards AFB, California, flew the first external weapons test mission. F-35A test aircraft AF-1 carried two AIM-9X short range air-to-air missiles on the outboard wing stations and a 2,000-pound GBU-31 guided bomb and an AIM-120 AMRAAM in each of the aircraft’s two internal weapon bays. US Air Force Lt. Col. Peter Vitt flew the one-hour mission, marking AF-1 Flight 184.

22 February 2012: Lockheed Martin test pilot Dan Levin flew an F-35B with external weapons stores for the first time. The 2.2-hour flight over an Atlantic test range measured flying qualities with external pylons carrying inert AIM-9X Sidewinder air-to-air missiles and a centerline 25mm gun pod. The flight from NAS Patuxent River, Maryland, marked Flight 159 for F-35B BF-2.

28 February 2012: US Air Force Maj. Steven Speares flew a 2.1-hour mission on F-35A AF-4 Flight 100 to complete the first phase of air start testing. The testing at Edwards AFB, California, included twenty-nine air starts for a total of forty minutes of engine out gliding time conducted during six flights.

2 March 2012: Lockheed Martin test pilot David Nelson flew the first test flight with Block 2A software loaded on F-35A AF-3. Block 2A is enhanced training software that enables initial data link communication and more mature aircraft systems integration. The two-hour flight at Edwards AFB, California, marked AF-3 Flight 96.

22 March 2012: F-35A AF-4 piloted by US Air Force Lt. Col. Peter Vitt rendezvoused with an Air Force KC-135 tanker and successfully received fuel through the F-35's receptacle for the program’s first aerial refueling at night. The 3.1-hour sortie marked Flight 103 for F-35A AF-4.

23 March 2012: US Air Force test pilot Lt. Col. George Schwartz became the thirty-fourth pilot to fly the F-35 when he took off from Edwards AFB, California, for a 1.2-hour mission on F-35A AF-3 Flight 103.

29 March 2012: The F-35 Integrated Test Force at NAS Patuxent River, Maryland, completed F-35B weapons pit drop testing with the ejection of a 500-pound GBU-38 bomb from F-35B test aircraft BF-3. The ground test was the final bit of data needed to compete the first phase of testing nine different weapon combinations in the F-35’s internal weapons bays.

31 March 2012: The F-35 test team set several new monthly program records in March, including the most test flights (123), most test flight hours (224.1), most F-35C carrier variant flights (thirty-one), and the most flight hours on a single aircraft (35.5 on F-35A AF-2).

3 April 2012: US Marine Corps Col. Arthur Tomassetti became the thirty-fifth pilot to fly the F-35 during a 1.2-hour F-35B BF-4 mission at NAS Patuxent River, Maryland. It was his first Joint Strike Fighter flight since 30 July 2001 when he flew a test flight in the X-35B concept demonstrator. Tomassetti is the vice commander of the 33d Fighter Wing Air Education and Training Command at Eglin AFB, Florida. The mission marked BF-4 Flight 105.

5 April 2012: US Navy Lt. Christopher Tabert expanded the flight test envelope of the F-35 when he flew the first aerial refueling mission with external weapons loaded on F-35B BF-2. The 3.1-hour flight from NAS Patuxent River, Maryland, included a rendezvous with a Navy KC-130R to refuel the F-35. The mission marked Flight 171.