Forum: F-35 Lightning II

Quote:

"The aircraft flew great for more than two hours with no issues. It's a really smooth, solid flying airplane and a joy to fly,"

http://www.defencetalk.com/navy-test-pi ... ght-32043/

Notice the integrated ladder?

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BTW, how do Navy pilots manage to land on runways that aren't moving away from them?

stereospace wrote:

BTW, how do Navy pilots manage to land on runways that aren't moving away from them?

The last Navy Pilot retired in Jan, 1981. Naval Aviators land on runways quite well, Thank You. Both Whiting and Kingsville are still landlocked. Very Happy

stereospace wrote:

BTW, how do Navy pilots manage to land on runways that aren't moving away from them?

How do Air Force pilots land on airfields that don't have a golf course or O Club? Cool

aaam wrote:

How do Air Force pilots land on airfields that don't have a golf course or O Club? Cool

If they have any self respect, they don't. Rolling Eyes

stereospace wrote:

BTW, how do Navy pilots manage to land on runways that aren't moving away from them?

Usually by either pretending they're a carrier in calm seas or pretending they're in the Air Force and get to take things easy.

In reality if a USN aircraft is landing ashore at an airfield with an IFLOLS or FLOLS ('mirror') that device will be used to further practice a field carrier landing (whereas a sortie of many such landings is called FCLP - Field Carrier Landing Practice). If no 'mirror'/FLOLS/IFLOLS or even a MOVLAS the USN pilot will fake it as pointed out above. Fresnel Lens Optical Landing System or Improved FLOLS or OLS Optical Landing System are wot those funny things mean... Very Happy

stereospace wrote:

BTW, how do Navy pilots manage to land on runways that aren't moving away from them?

I forgot to add, Navy jets also have fairly new, slightly used brakes in addition to the proven, well used tailhook. Those thingies at the top of the pedals. Crazy Pilot

Navy test pilot says JSF is ‘easy to fly’ By Joshua Stewart - Staff writer Feb 20, 2011

http://www.navytimes.com/news/2011/02/n ... t-022011w/

"The plane frees aviators to focus on mission, Cmdr. Eric ‘Magic’ Buus says.

Cmdr. Eric “Magic” Buus was the first Navy test pilot to fly the F-35B and C. But hearing his take on it, you have to wonder how much the Lightning II variants really need a warm body in the cockpit.

Compared with other fighters, Lockheed Martin’s F-35C — the carrier version of the joint strike fighter — doesn’t require pilots to think as much while in the air, letting them dedicate brain cells to handling complex weapons and the details of the mission, Buus said.

“The point of the multirole fighter is to make it easy to fly. We don’t have to put much thought into flying,” he said.

Buss, who has spent nearly his entire career on F/A-18 Hornets, was the first Navy test pilot to fly both the F-35B — the Marine Corps’ short-takeoff-and-vertical-landing JSF variant — and the F-35C. He flew the Marine version Feb. 3 and the Navy’s on Feb. 11. Both flights were from Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md. On the F-35C flight, he flew for a little over two hours and tested the plane’s flutter execution system to measure loads on the airframe.

“One of the biggest things that jumps out to me is that it’s very easy to fly,” he said.

The thrust is good, and there’s no indication that the F-35 has only one engine, instead of two like on the Super Hornet, he said.

Compared to the Hornet, it seems “a bit more solid,” Buus said.

Other test pilots say the F-35 feels “stiff,” but no matter the adjective, Buus said its fly-by-wire controls and flight computers make it very responsive. The cockpit, which has its stick on the side instead of the center, is comfortable and has a large touch-screen display.

“I really like a lot of things they have done with this airplane,” he said.

Unlike with other aircrafts, F-35 pilots will fly their first training plane solo; pilots training for other aircraft are accompanied by a flight instructor. Buus said spending the last year in a simulator and doing engine runs left him prepared for his first flight, even though he would fly alone."

Forum: F-35 Lightning II

Navy Test Pilot Completes First F-35C Flight (Article/Video)