Forum: F-35 Lightning II

F-35 test program exceeds expectations
By: Tina Forde, Reporter, Tehachapi News

Posted by admin Tuesday, September 7, 2010 - 13:52
Viewed 927 times

The stout, smoky gray little aircraft — resembling slightly its X-15 ancestor — set down gently on a runway at Edwards Air Force Base shortly after noon Aug. 27, making its first media appearance since its arrival for testing last May.

The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter — called Lightning — is exceeding developmental test expectations and causing a ripple of satisfaction throughout the JSF Integrated Test Force and 461st Flight Test Squadron at Edwards.

“We've accomplished three times what was expected,” said Maj. Gen. David J. Eichhorn, commander, Air Force Flight Test Center.

Calling the F-35 “a major awesome weapons system,” Eichhorn said that the original plan called for the two aircraft at Edwards to complete 15 to 20 flight test sorties by now.

“Col. [Hank] Griffiths just landed flight number 60. That's an unprecedented level of flight testing activity.”

He said the test team has the ability to move “as fast as the system under testing allows us to do.”

Eichhorn said the test team is looking for credible, objective data to provide to the government in Washington, D.C. , information that is “beyond the sales brochure.”

The future

“You see here the future of the international air force,” said Lockheed Martin's Doug Pearson, vice president, F-35 JSF Integrated Test Force.

The 5th generation fighter is being developed as a cooperative project of nine countries by Lockheed Martin for the Air Force, Navy and Marines.

It is expected to be operational for 40 years.

The developmental testing — followed by operational testing — will go on for four or five years (and really never ends), bringing high-level professionals to the area, many choosing to live in the Tehachapi area.

“We are at 500 people and are going to 750,” said Fred Madenwald, F-35 Integrated Test Force Site and Flight Test Director for Lockheed Martin Aeronautics and a resident of Bear Valley Springs.

“I moved here four years ago to support this program,” he said.

Madenwald said that in the testing process, there are “discoveries that have surprised us.”

The F-35s are built in Fort Worth and come in three versions, all sharing a common frame and systems: conventional take-off and landing, the vertical take-off and landing and the carrier model.

The aircraft, made of highly composite, modern materials, and designed for stealth agility and affordability, is a whole new product.

“The 5th generation cannot be scabbed onto a legacy platform [older aircraft],” Eichhorn said.

The testing program has been expedited by the delivery of aircraft that were prepared and ready to go, he said.

Pilots praise

The test pilots flying the single-seat F-35 sing its praises.

“It's a really well-performing airplane,” said Integrated Test Force pilot Griffiths. “I'm an F-16 guy. I flew 150 hours in sims (simulators) before flying the F-35. It flies just like the sim. That's the true test.

“There's a lot of power behind the jet, a big motor… it's a dream for a pilot to fly.”

The aircraft feels solid and safe, said Lockheed test pilot Bill Gigliotti.

“It doesn't have a dainty feel,” he said. “You want to feel protected. It accelerates and rolls like an F-16. It's the easiest airplane to land.”

He said the approach speed is relatively low.

Gigliotti said the system incorporates all the best features of the F-14, 15, 16 and 18 fourth generation fighters.

http://www.tehachapinews.com/content/f- ... ions/31454

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Thanks sm, very interesting pilot comments [F-16like], including this jab at PPT critic brigade: "... the test team is looking for credible, objective data to provide to the government in Washington, D.C. , information that is “beyond the sales brochure.”

Thanks!