Forum: F-35 Lightning II

Air Force postpones decision on F-35 training school January 05, 2012 MONA MOORE / Daily News (via Alert5)

http://www.nwfdailynews.com/articles/fo ... s-afb.html

"EGLIN AFB — The limbo in which Eglin Air Force Base’s Joint Strike Fighter training school has been operating since it opened its doors has been extended.

The Air Force plans to reassess the impact of F-35 flight training and has postponed until 2013 at the earliest any decision on where the flight training will take place and which runways will be used....

...Despite the production and SEIS delays, aircraft already delivered may fly before the next Record of Decision is issued in 2013. Once the current grounding is lifted, the school will continue to operate under a 2009 Record of Decision, which allows pilots to fly the aircraft (with some restrictions) on runway 01-19, the one nearest Valparaiso.

In the meantime, pilots and maintainers will continue to use the delivered aircraft for ground training and simulators for flight training.

“As the 33rd Fighter Wing stands ready for unmonitored flight release to begin flying operations at Eglin AFB, we are making best use of the aircraft to verify tech data and conduct training for both Lockheed Martin contractors and government maintainers,” Col. Andrew Toth, the wing’s commander, said in an email.

“Additionally, our operations and maintenance personnel are getting more experience with the system by conducting both ground engine runs at taxi operations using our initial cadre instructor pilots,”
Toth said

Construction also will continue. In cooperation with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the base recently began demolishing old hangars to make room for an F-35 fuel cell maintenance hangar with three aircraft bays, office space and a tool crib. It is expected to be completed in February 2013....

Details at the URL jump above.

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Did I miss something over the new year or does this statement apply to Eglin only?

"The Joint Strike Fighter currently is grounded as the Department of Defense reviews several issues, including the helmet-mounted display system, arresting gear system, fuel dump subsystem, software and lightning protection"

It is cleared for test flights, not training flights.

Another 'hanging chad' [an unexpected ribald definition(s) here: http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.p ... ng%20chad] (remember the tied Presidential Election between Bush & GlobalWarmingMan?) is that AFAIK there is no resolution to this issue yet - like a lot of things perpetually hanging over the F-35. I guess that is the nature of it. And what about F-35B probation? ['Dags' is an Oz Definition for all of the above] Twisted Evil

Stealth Jet Could Be Unsafe for Flight Training By David Axe Nov 1, 2011

http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2011/11 ... er-unsafe/

"...In a memo dated Oct. 21, [2011] Gilmore, the Director of Operational Test and Evaluation, asked Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics Frank Kendall to consider delaying the commencement of F-35 training by 10 months,...

...Initial “familiarization” flights for future JSF pilots were set to begin this fall, using a handful of so-called “Lot 2? F-35As completed by Lockheed this summer. The Lot 2 planes have been parked at Florida’s Eglin Air Force Base — future home of the Pentagon’s JSF “schoolhouse” — for several months, awaiting a certificate from the Air Force that will allow them to begin flying with student pilots aboard.

But Gilmore cautioned that the F-35 design might not be safe enough for trainees, regardless of any Air Force certificates. In his memo....

...Ten months of additional testing should drive down the abort rate, give engineers time to fix technical flaws and make the F-35As safe for new pilots, Gilmore advised. But a training delay could push the date of the JSF’s combat readiness even farther into the future....

...The potential for more delays might help explain the JSF team’s response to Gilmore’s warning. In a memo dated Oct. 24, Air Force Lt. Gen Thomas Owen and Navy Vice Adm. David Venlet rejected Gilmore’s advice. Owen oversees aircraft development for the Air Force; Venlet is in charge of the overall JSF effort. The two flag officers cautioned against any “disruption … to the overall program progress.”

Owen and Venlet insisted that no F-35 training would take place until the Air Force awarded the certificate — and that won’t happen as long as there are any “open issues” regarding the JSF’s safety. But the two flag officers still anticipated the certificate would be issued this fall, allowing training to commence...."