Forum: F-35 Lightning II

F-35B Shows Up Critics (NAVY TIMES 31 OCT 11) ... Editorial

http://www.hrana.org/articles.asp#F35BShowsUp

"Critics said the heat from F-35B Lightning II's exhaust would buckle steel decks and the noise from its engine would deafen sailors and even rupture their internal organs....

...Similar rumors and doubts swirled about the Harrier during its development testing in the late 1960s and early 1970s, only to prove critics wrong on the way to an impressive four decades plus in service....

...While the program must surmount many more hurdles over the coming years, it's proving more capable than its critics have claimed — or would like to see."

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This long article is an agglomeration of many smaller previous articles but well worth a read with only some salient relevant points excerpted here - for the record. Rolling Eyes

Navy Sees Few Anomalies in F-35B Ship Trials Oct 28, 2011 By Amy Butler Onboard the USS Wasp

PROBABLY easier to read the print article here: http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/jsp_incl ... dLine=Navy Sees Few Anomalies in F-35B Ship Trials&storyID=news/awst/2011/10/24/AW_10_24_2011_p30-384427.xml
OR
http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/generic/ ... dline=Navy Sees Few Anomalies in F-35B Ship Trials

"Within sight of the Virginia coast, the USS Wasp amphibious assault ship has been circling since the beginning of the month in a 20 X 20-mi. box quietly—until now—making history as the host of the very first sea trials of the Lockheed Martin F-35B...

...He says that pilots initially approached from stern to bow and crossed over above the deck at a 90-deg. angle. Only after ship operators were comfortable with pilots’ skills were they able to begin cutting that angle to 45 deg. Harrier pilots use both angles.

Although in land testing the F-35B pilots often conduct hovers around 100 ft., Cordell says that on deck they have narrowed that down to 40 ft. “It is counterintuitive, but the airplane has a less harsh environment hovering at 40 ft. than it does at 100 ft.,” he says....

...Lt. Col. Matt Kelly, the lead F-35 test pilot at Patuxent River, originally a Hornet pilot, says that his first time conducting a vertical landing on an L-class ship was with the F-35B. “The challenge is not ‘am I going to get my aircraft onboard,’” he says. “The challenge really becomes 'can I put my nose tire in a 1 ft. X 1-ft. square box where I want to on the deck.’ That is really a testament to the flight controls and the tools that pilots have.”

Kelly acknowledges that the deck motion does impact landing operations, but “the control law you have is so good, you can compensate.”...

...Though vertical landings are quite similar to those of the Harrier, the STO operations do vary for the F-35 owing to the different lift qualities of the F-35s’ stealthy, supersonic-capable design. For testing on the Wasp, the nozzles and control surfaces actuate with 225 ft. of runway remaining on deck, creating an angle of attack and allowing for the wings to produce enough lift for takeoff from the deck, Cordell says. The Harrier’s rotation line is at the bow, owing to its wing design creating the required lift without the corresponding angle-of-attack change. Cordell says that the testing equipment at the ship’s bow has also not detected any problems with the F-35’s nozzle clearance as it takes off.

Pilots were qualified using the heart of the Harrier wind envelope. During testing they have expanded that up to a 30-kt. headwind, 10-kt. crosswind and 5-kt. tailwind. Pilots report good handling qualities, Cordell says....

...replacement of a flat tire, which required an aircraft to be hoisted on jacks in the hangar—a first for the F-35 program. Incidentally, Briggs says the aircraft are using tires at a slower rate while on deck than during testing at Patuxent River. There, maintainers were replacing tires faster than expected in crosswind conditions....

...The Marine Corps intends to declare initial operational capability for the F-35B in 2015; the original plan was 2012 and was later slipped to 2014...."

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Forum: F-35 Lightning II

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