Posted on February 18, 2010 by Fighter Country
WASHINGTON, Feb 18 (Reuters) – The Marine Corps version of Lockheed Martin Corp’s (LMT.N) F-35 is expected to make its long-delayed first full vertical landing within the next week, a top U.S. Navy official said on Thursday. Captain Lawrence Burt, Commander of Carrier Air Wing Two, said officials testing the short takeoff, vertical landing (STOVL) version of the new radar-evading fighter needs to conduct a few more flights before doing the landing maneuver . “They’re three or four flights from a full STOVL vertical landing, which would be a huge step in the testing process,” Burt told Reuters after addressing…
Posted on February 17, 2010 by Fighter Country
NAVAL AIR STATION PATUXENT RIVER, Md., Feb. 17 – The jet, known as BF-3, took off near Lockheed Martin’s Fort Worth plant at 9:51 a.m. CST and arrived at NAS Patuxent River three hours and 10 minutes later. BF-3 joins two other F-35Bs at the Navy test site, and will be used mainly to evaluate vehicle systems and expand the aircraft’s aerodynamic and structural-loads envelope. The airplane will also focus on weapons testing, and will carry and release most of the weapons the F-35B will use in combat. Two more F-35Bs will join the test operation in the near future….
Posted on February 2, 2010 by Fighter Country
A Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) F-35B Lightning II short takeoff/vertical landing (STOVL) stealth fighter today became the fifth F-35 to begin flight operations. One day after the secretary of defense commented about the F-35 program regarding its lack of performance on the F-35 joint strike fighter, Lockheed Martin got its fifth F-35 test airplane in the air Tuesday for the first time. The jet, known as BF-3, departed the runway near Lockheed Martin’s Fort Worth plant at 4:02 p.m. CST for its first flight. During the one-hour sortie, F-35 Chief Test Pilot Jon Beesley tested the aircraft’s handling qualities, engine…
Posted on January 27, 2010 by Fighter Country
PATUXENT RIVER, Md., Jan. 27 — A Royal Air Force officer on Tuesday became the first active-duty service pilot from the United Kingdom to take to the skies in a Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) F-35 Lightning II, also known as the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF). RAF Squadron Leader Steve Long piloted BF-2, the second short takeoff/vertical landing (STOVL) F-35B, over Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md., logging the aircraft’s 18th mission. Long departed at 9:55 a.m. EST and flew the aircraft to 20,000 feet, before landing 1.3 hours later. Both the RAF and the Royal Navy plan to operate the F-35B. “Flying the F-35 was exactly like the simulators that…
