Forum: F-35 Lightning II

bjr1028 wrote:

lb wrote:

It's a flight test program. The purpose is to find problems and correct them.

The purpose of a flight test program is also to find out if the program is viable for field deployment.

Incorrect. Flight test is a separate and distinct task from Operational Test and Evaluation. Flight test is run by the contractor to find and correct problems. OT&E is run by government teams to evaluate operational suitability.

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This is The DEW Line. I can assure you I'm too dumb to think to do any video editing tricks, and I'm sure Bill would skewer me -- good naturedly, I hope! -- if I tried that with one of his questions. For press conferences, I usually record each question and answer individually, so the video ends as another question is asked. That's all that happened here. Gen Moore has completed his answer. Thanks for reading, by the way!

Tinito_16 wrote:

Once they find the fix, they'll just load the s.w. and reboot. They'll keep on testing for the bug but it won't be the end of the world.

Exactly right. I work for a software company and 99% of fixing a software issue is finding exact cause of the issue.

If they already know the root cause (which it seems they do), you can bet money that the code has already been fixed for this particular issue .. it now goes through a string of QA and test labs before making it to the flying aircraft. That's where the delay comes in.

Tinito_16 wrote:

The software problem should be no big issue. You can do almost anything with software. Once they find the fix, they'll just load the s.w. and reboot. They'll keep on testing for the bug but it won't be the end of the world.

The hinge problem seems minor but that's a hardware issue, meaning if they can't find a solution to it using the existing airframe, they'll have to redesign. Which is a pain in the a$$ because it may affect other components that are working just fine right now. Hopefully it won't turn out to be that big of a deal.

Better to find flaws and iron out the kinks now than when the plane is in full production.

If, you compare the development problems of the F-35 compare to most Modern Fighter from the last 30-40 years. The F-35 is nearly trouble free....

The software fix is on the way.
http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/blogs/de ... d=blogDest

Software Fix En Route to Grounded F-35s
Posted by Graham Warwick at 10/1/2010 3:55 PM CDT

Flight testing of the F-35 is expected to resume early next week after being suspended since early this week after a problem with the software controlling the fuel boost pumps was discovered in the lab. Modified software is to be loaded onto the test jets beginning Oct. 5.

'Churchill with Cigar & a Thompson Sub Machine-Gun Man' (Bill Sweetman)
http://www.vincelewis.net/tommygun.html
has this to say:

http://www.vincelewis.net/myimages61/tommychurchill.gif

Leadership Changes On JSF + End-FY Update Posted by Bill Sweetman at 10/4/2010

http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/blogs/de ... d=blogDest

"Joint Strike Fighter program office director VAdm Dave Venlet has gone to ground (if that term can be used of a Navy officer) since he was confirmed in May. However, he did not waste much time in bringing in two newcomers as his top civilian deputies on the program.

Robert Townsend of Avis, in his 1960s management classic Up The Organization, advocated the "Man from Mars" approach to problem solving. Venlet has done the next best thing with the Man from Area 51, appointing Doug Ebersole as Director of Engineering in the JPO. Ebersole's last-but-one in a series of tough assignments was as chief of the USAF's special test programs division "led a small team...providing oversight and governance of the Special Test Mission Area responsible for test, training, evaluation and fielding of highly classified Special Access Programs."

Ebersole's appointment date was May 2010. He succeeded John White, who had been with the program since 2007.

Another newcomer is Todd Mellon, a logistics specialist. His JSF program biography does not list his title or his appointment date, but a news release shows that he was under Venlet's command at Navair in the summer of 2010.

With the program currently grounded, the team has its work cut out: but in addition to temporary suspensions, it is now increasingly apparent that the program will have challenges meeting objectives set in March. Specifically, Pentagon procurement chief Ashton Carter told Congress in March that goals included the "commencement of flight training at Eglin AFB this year" and 2011 milestones including STOVL sea trials and "delivery of all LRIP-2 (12 aircraft) and at least 13 of 17 LRIP-3 US and partner aircraft."

Deliveries, however, are running well behind the last specific schedule, released in September 2009. At that point, the program planned to deliver 12 aircraft - ten SDD jets and the two LRIP-1 aircraft - to Patuxent River, Edwards or Eglin by this summer. Only four of those aircraft have been delivered and seven (AF-3/4, CF-2/3, BF-5 and the two LRIP-1s) have not flown.

In order to start training, the two LRIP-1s have to fly, clear initial tests and go to Eglin and the jet has to be declared ready for training, criteria for which are under study by the DoD's Technical Baseline Review team. Meanwhile, Carter's delivery goals through the end of 2011 imply that an enterprise that delivered four aircraft in the last 12 months will now deliver 33 aircraft in the next 15 months - a sixfold rate increase."

spazsinbad wrote:

'Churchill with Cigar & a Thompson Sub Machine-Gun Man' (Bill Sweetman) "Only four of those aircraft have been delivered and seven (AF-3/4, CF-2/3, BF-5 and the two LRIP-1s) have not flown."

Not to be picky but;

6 July 2010: AF-3 First Flight
The third conventional takeoff and landing variant, AF-3, completes its first flight. Piloted by Lockheed Martin test pilot Bill Gigliotti, AF-3 takes off from NAS Fort Worth JRB, Texas. AF-3 is the ninth F-35 to fly and the second test jet to fly with the avionics package that is used in all operational F-35s.

Fourth Quarter and probably December will be a very busy month for flight ops. in FW. It will be interesting if LM is able to get the LRIP-1s into flight. That would certainly increase the "pucker" factor for the chicken little crowd. Smile

It will be very interesting if they do that. Do you expect that the LRIPs will "jump the queue" over the remaining SDDs?

JSF Likely Flies Tomorrow By Colin Clark Monday, October 4th, 2010

http://www.dodbuzz.com/2010/10/04/jsf-l ... t102455759

"The software glitch that led to the grounding of all variants of the Joint Strike Fighter fleet last Thursday should be fixed very soon, allowing planes to take to the air tomorrow, Pentagon officials say.

The problem, detected in the lab on the ground, resided with code that controls the engine’s three fuel boost pumps. “The minor software modification will correctly align fuel boost pump signal sequencing,” Pentagon spokeswoman Cheryl Irwin said in a statement. The glitch was not insignificant. “It could possibly trigger a shutdown of all three boost pumps, potentially further causing engine stall. Such a simultaneous shutdown is unlikely, but prudence dictated a suspension of operations until the fuel boost pump signal timing was corrected.”

The ability to fix this sort of problem must have grizzled veteran pilots grinning. In the old days a problem like this would probably have been found the hard way — in flight — and someone might have had to eject or make a risky emergency landing, or worse. As it is in today’s software-driven flight environment, this appears at this point to be a potentially significant but easily fixable problem."

underhill wrote:

It will be very interesting if they do that. Do you expect that the LRIPs will "jump the queue" over the remaining SDDs?

NO, LM has to fly all of the SDD this year or suffer more from chicken littles and HASC!

LRIP-1s are shown as having been committed to SDD, also. With the flight/ testpoint success of AF-1,2,3 it might be possible to move the LRIP-1s back into Eglin and initiate progress on the training program??, maybe? Question

My crystal ball still doesn't buy winning lottery tickets! Guiness

F-35 Back in the Air Posted by Graham Warwick at 10/5/2010

http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/blogs/de ... d=blogDest

"The suspension of flights of the Joint Strike Fighter was lifted today (Oct. 5), with F-35A CTOL test aircraft AF-1 taking off from Edwards AFB, Calif. this afternoon.

Lifting of last week's suspension comes after loading of a software modification to overcome a fuel boost-pump sequencing issue uncovered in the laboratory.

Lockheed Martin says the two F-35As at Edwards were cleared to return to flight today, with the four STOVL F-35Bs at NAS Patuxent River, Md. expected to resume up-and-away flying later this year. [I'm guessing 'up&away flying' is STOVL? - see below]

The F-35Bs will continue to be restricted to conventional-mode flying until a solution is implemented for the auxiliary inlet-door hinge problem that led to suspension of STOVL-mode flight tests."

He updated his quote to say "later this week" instead of year.

spazsinbad wrote:

Lockheed Martin says the two F-35As at Edwards were cleared to return to flight today, with the four STOVL F-35Bs at NAS Patuxent River, Md. expected to resume up-and-away flying later this year. [I'm guessing 'up&away flying' is STOVL? - see below]

The F-35Bs will continue to be restricted to conventional-mode flying until a solution is implemented for the auxiliary inlet-door hinge problem that led to suspension of STOVL-mode flight tests."

Up-and-away is CTOL/conventional flight.

STOVL flight is also referred to as powered-lift.

Forum: F-35 Lightning II

F-35 Flights Restricted By Fuel Pump, Inlet Door Issues