F-35B BF-21 First Flight

Lockheed Martin test pilot Billie Flynn flew F-35B production number BF-21 (US Navy Bureau Number 168719) on its inaugural flight on 24 October 2012 from NAS Fort Worth JRB, Texas. The aircraft will be going to Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, Arizona. As the future home of five F-35 operational squadrons of sixteen aircraft each and one operational test and evaluation squadron of eight aircraft totaling eighty-eight aircraft, the F-35 squadrons at Yuma will replace four existing squadrons consisting of fifty-six AV-8B Harriers. VMFA-332 is set to become the first F-35 squadron, replacing a former F-18 squadron. VMFA-332 will not only be the first Marine Corps F-35 Squadron in Yuma, it is also scheduled to be the first F-35 operational squadron in the Department of Defense.