F-35B tank from KC-130J

"On Oct. 2, two U.S. Marine Corps F-35B Joint Strike Fighters conducted the first aerial refueling with a KC-130J Hercules in the sky above Eglin Air Force Base, Fla."

http://theaviationist.com/2012/10/04/f35b-aar/

Have the F-35Bs over there been tanking mid-air with anything else already? I wonder if this will help speed up the training.

What a beautiful sight!

http://cencio4.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/f-35b.jpg from first post above.

Eglin F-35B conduct first aerial refueling By Dave Majumdar, October 4, 2012

http://www.flightglobal.com/blogs/the-d ... -aeri.html

"...USMC Majors Tye Bachmann and Paul Holst, both assigned to Eglin's VMFAT-501, flew the unit's aerial refueling sortie. The two F-35Bs took on fuel from a Lockheed Martin KC-130 Hercules tanker over the Gulf of Mexico using the probe and drogue aerial refueling system. The aircraft were at 15,000ft and flying at about 250 knots....

...Now that the aerial refueling procedure has been validated, all of the Marine aviators at Eglin will start qualifying on the procedure--including two who are bound for the first operational squadron in Yuma, Arizona."

2nd verse same as the first: http://www.flightglobal.com/blogs/the-d ... 5B1%5D.jpg

MORE at the YumpinYiminee.

F-35 put through refueling paces October 04, 2012 BY HILLARY DAVIS

http://www.yumasun.com/news/air-82180-yuma-pilots.html

"...The pilots each took off in an F-35 from the coastal Florida Air Force base and flew about 50 to 75 miles off-shore before meeting up with a C-130 tanker out of Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, N.C., to replenish their fuel in the sky over the Gulf of Mexico.

The 300 gallons of fuel they took on wasn't much for a plane, but enough to show that the systems were solid and the training was effective.

Holst, an experienced pilot with about 1,800 hours in the F-18, said it was an overall similar refueling technique “The airplane and the tanker worked as advertised, and everything went really smoothly.”

Bachmann has been in the F-35, the next generation of fighter jets, for about four years. He's also familiar with the Harrier, the F-18, the F-16 and the Air Force variant of the F-35, the F-35A. He said the much-anticipated F-35 handles easier – “that's the way we designed it.”

“It's still got the new car smell,” Holst said. “It's got a little more get-up-and-go.”...

Context at the jump but same as other reports.

Salute!

Really good news.

I was suprised the Herc was as fast or the Bee was so slow, as the AoA didn't look all that high. Wonder what the gross weight was.

In any case, this bodes well.

Gums sends...

P.S. After being TDY for last four months, many more jets flying around. And the sucker IS definitely louder on final approach. takeoff seems about like an Eagle in AB. Funny, but did not hear those teleflex/rotary gears moving the nozzles like the Pratts on the Eagle or Viper.

Gums wrote:I was suprised the Herc was as fast or the Bee was so slow

Nothing that new...

The AoA of the jets is quite evident in both images though.

LEF deflection a good indicator of the alpha on the jet. We know that the '130 will be in the 220-230 KCAS range, but we don't know how heavy the jets were when they plugged.

I'm guessing those kinds of AOA generate significant induced drag.

More photos taken on a Iphone 4S






Canon EOS 5D Mk II

High resolution picture!

http://images.onset.freedom.com/yumasun ... ng2web.jpg

Thanks - cropped / resized version of the excellent of the hi-rez above.