Forum: F-35 Lightning II

popcorn wrote:

Pardon my ignorance but will A, B and C variants have to through all the identical test points in addition to the unique testing requirements specific to each model (eg. vertical landing for B, catapult takeoff/arrested landing for C)? What areas of the test program would benefit from commonality?

Mission systems.....which is a huge chunk of testing.

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LMAggie wrote:

popcorn wrote:

Pardon my ignorance but will A, B and C variants have to through all the identical test points in addition to the unique testing requirements specific to each model (eg. vertical landing for B, catapult takeoff/arrested landing for C)? What areas of the test program would benefit from commonality?

Mission systems.....which is a huge chunk of testing.

Thanks, I did some surfing to better understand what is meant by "mission systems" .. definbitely a huge chunk as you put it... good reading article and impressive amount of work already done beforehand..
http://www.lockheedmartin.com/news/pres ... -test.html

sextusempiricus wrote:

BTW, the F-35 will never be a good-looking aircraft, but the C model is definitely the least bad-looking of the three. The larger wings and tails certainly make it look much better.

I have to say when you are up close and look nose on she is a beauty, i LOVE the look of her. DEADLY !

f35phixer wrote:

sextusempiricus wrote:

BTW, the F-35 will never be a good-looking aircraft, but the C model is definitely the least bad-looking of the three. The larger wings and tails certainly make it look much better.

I have to say when you are up close and look nose on she is a beauty, i LOVE the look of her. DEADLY !

Compared to the alternative X-32, the F-35 is incredibly beautiful.. Very Happy

BF-2 flight 30 (first STOVL supersonic flight)

Full story

F-35 Joint Strike Fighter short takeoff/vertical landing (STOVL) variant flew faster than the speed of sound for the first time June 10, achieving a significant milestone.

The aircraft accelerated to Mach 1.07 (727 miles per hour) on the first in a long series of planned supersonic flights.

The supersonic milestone was achieved on the 30th flight of the F-35B known as BF-2. U.S. Marine Corps pilot Lt. Col. Matt Kelly climbed to 30,000 feet and accelerated to Mach 1.07 in the off-shore supersonic test track near Naval Air Station Patuxent River. Future testing will gradually expand the flight envelope out to the aircraft's top speed of Mach 1.6, which the F-35 is designed to achieve with a full internal weapons load of more than 3,000 pounds. All F-35s are designed to launch internal missiles at maximum supersonic speed, as well as launch internal guided bombs supersonically. During the flight, Kelly accomplished 21 unique test points, including several Integrated Test Blocks to validate roll, pitch, yaw and propulsion performance.

BF-2 is the third F-35 to achieve supersonic flight. Two F-35A conventional takeoff and landing variants also have broken the sound barrier.

B. Bolsøy
Oslo

Didn't one of the X-35's go supersonic so this would make four of the -35's to go supersonic, right?

X-35B did a short take-off, supersonic flight and vertical landing, pilot (then) Major Tomassetti USMC.

http://www.airspacemag.com/military-avi ... ion_X.html

"The sortie was to consist of a short takeoff, climbing to 25,000 feet, making a supersonic dash, and returning to the field for a vertical landing. Each event, in and of itself, was not a breakthrough achievement and had been accomplished on a previous X-35B sortie, but putting them all together on one flight would be an aviation first. Previous STOVL aircraft achieved supersonic speeds when they had been put in a steep dive, but today we would up the ante by making a level supersonic dash."
&
"...at 80 knots, after only 200 feet, I vectored the thrust to 60 degrees and the aircraft leapt off the ground. I completed the post-takeoff checks, climbed through 5,000 feet, and converted the aircraft from STOVL mode back to CTOL ..."

BF-1 did it's second vertical landing at PAX the 30th of June, piloted by Graham Tomlinson according to Graham Warwick.

Joost

Last edited by neptune on Jul 08, 2010 - 01:37 AM; edited 1 time in total

Lockheed Martin F-35A Becomes Second Variant To Fly With Mission Systems
FORT WORTH, Texas, July 7th, 2010 -- The ninth Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] F-35 Lightning II stealth fighter entered flight testing on Tuesday, becoming the second test jet to fly with the next-generation avionics package that will populate all operational F-35s. The F-35A conventional takeoff and landing (CTOL) variant, known as AF-3, flew for 42 minutes during its first flight.

F-35 Test Pilot Bill Gigliotti took off at 6:20 p.m. and initiated a series of flying-qualities tests in a flight focused on propulsion and vehicle systems operation. Some mission systems data were collected before the flight was curtailed by storms in the area.
Beer

F-35 Flight Test at the Half-Year Mark
Posted by Graham Warwick at 7/7/2010 2:12 PM CDT

While we weren't looking, the F-35 flight test program has quietly been making a bit of progress - not enough to get Lockheed Martin off the hook, but a trend in the right direction.

The first CTOL F-35A mission-systems test aircraft made its first flight at Fort Worth yesterday evening (July 7). Aircraft AF-3 is the second to be equipped with the radar and other mission avionics - the first was BF-4, the fourth STOVL F-35B, which first flew in April.

AF-3 is the ninth F-35 to fly and joins the fleet at the mid-point of a year in which Lockheed has committed to complete at least 394 flights in an effort to get the long-delayed test program under way. The company ended June with 136 flights in the first six months, 18 more than planned, but just a third of the way to its goal for 2010.

Seven aircraft logged 43 flights in June, against a plan of 28 - a pace of flying that, if maintained, would enable Lockheed to meet its target. And with AF-3 now flying, and three more expected to fly this year, a total of 394 flights looks acheivable. But whether the company can complete the "right" 394 flights is less certain.

That's because generating test flights with the STOVL aircraft continues to be a challenge, largely because of mechanical issues. In the first six months, the four F-35Bs now at Patuxent River logged 75 flights, for an average of just over three per month per aircraft. The two F-35As now at Edwards joined (or rejoined) the test program in April and logged 56 flights - an average of just over nine flights per month per aircraft.

To be fairer and look just at June, the two F-35As each flew nine times, while the four F-35Bs flew a total of 19 times - ranging from seven flights for BF-3 to just two for BF-2. And the first F-35C carrier variant logged six flights over the three weeks since its first flight on June 6.

The good news is that flight testing has uncovered few problems so far. When I visited Pax in June, the STOVL test pilots mentioned an oscillation when refuelling behind a KC-130 and a shimmy when going supersonic, both quickly fixed with flight control tweaks. They all praised the aircraft's ease of flying, particularly in STOVL mode.

Lockheed is working to overcome the availability issues as it aims to average 12 flights per month per aircraft across the test fleet. But with some key milestones for the STOVL aircraft this year ahead of initial sea trials in March 2011, flight testing could remain a concern for the program in the near term. You can read more in the upcoming July 19 issue of Aviation Week & Space Technology.

Cheers

http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/blogs/defense

It is very nice to see things moving right along now. Faith and patience will see them going operational soon! Wink

neptune wrote:

<snip>
The good news is that flight testing has uncovered few problems so far. When I visited Pax in June, the STOVL test pilots mentioned an oscillation when refuelling behind a KC-130 and a shimmy when going supersonic, both quickly fixed with flight control tweaks. They all praised the aircraft's ease of flying, particularly in STOVL mode.

Is anyone else impressed that instead of finding problems, LM is "tuning" the flying characteristics of the aircraft?

Is anyone also impressed that tweaking the flight controls takes care of the "bothersome" oscillations and shimmies?

Great news!
fisk
"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."
Arthur C. Clarke's Third Law

That's what we do in flight test. We do try to break the jet! M&S only finds some much, We Find, Fix, Fly, Verfiy it's fixed Very Happy

Move on to the next spot in the sky!

By BOB COX rcox@star-telegram.com

http://www.star-telegram.com/2010/07/11 ... z0tR1zJKVM

"Overall we're happy with the way things are going this year," said John Kent, Lockheed F-35 program spokesman.

By week's end, the test program had completed 146 flights this year compared with the 128 planned, a pace that, if, sustained, would enable the full-year goal of 394 flights to be met or exceeded. Another measure of progress is the number of specific tests (test points) achieved: 1,438 completed compared with 1,255 planned.

The 42-minute flight Tuesday of the AF-3, an F-35A conventional takeoff model like those that will be built for the U.S. Air Force, went well until stormy weather cut it short. A second flight later in the week was scrubbed because of the heavy overcast; initial flight tests are conducted under visual flight rules.

Testing of the two F-35A models at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., is going very well, Kent said, while the four F-35B models at Patuxent River, a more complex aircraft, have had a higher incidence of technical problems. "They're things we're glad to have found early," Kent said. "Nothing systemic, just glitches that we've had to fix." Very Happy

F-35 flight summary - passing 300 sorties

2010 year to date, as of July 20:

AF-1 - 30
AF-2 - 34
AF-3 - 4
BF-1 - 25
BF-2 - 15
BF-3 - 27
BF-4 - 17
CF-1 - 14

Total - 166 of 144 planned
Test points - 1604 of 1405 planned

Program overall flights - 303

See also F-35 testing ahead of schedule

B. Bolsøy
Oslo

Forum: F-35 Lightning II

Overview of F-35 test flights