Eglin AFB begins formal Maintainer Training

Discuss the F-35 Lightning II
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by SpudmanWP » 17 Apr 2012, 20:18

http://www.jsf.mil/news/docs/20120416_EGLINTRAINING.pdf

F-35 TRAINING CENTER BEGINS FORMAL TRAINING
EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. (AFNS) -- While celebrating each F-35 Lightning II arrival, the integrated joint strike fighter training team also recently opened the doors for the first Air Force certification courses on the logistical support behind the nation's newest weapons platform. The 33rd Fighter Wing has eight basic familiarization courses now in session at the academic training center with courses currently scheduled through early next year. Approximately 100 maintenance students from three branches of service began the inaugural classes March 19.

"This is hugely significant for all services because we are getting our maintainers prepped for when we are fully stood-up for F-35 training in the near future," said Col. Andrew Toth, the 33rd FW commander. "The classes are another exciting step forward in the 2012 execution year for F-35 training."

...

"When training is in full swing, approximately 2,100 maintainers and 100 pilot students can be processed through the ATC annually, with 900 people at any given time on campus," Toth said. "Classes last from one to three months depending upon the course."


More at the jump
"The early bird gets the worm but the second mouse gets the cheese."


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by spazsinbad » 17 Apr 2012, 23:14

Nice recent photo from the 'new' DEWline also relevant: http://www.flightglobal.com/blogs/the-d ... 155081.jpg

Could Live Virtual Constructive (LVC) training help reduce F-35 costs? By Dave Majumdar on April 13, 2012

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

Dave:
"...Also the support troops have begun their formal training... (Hmmm... they appear to have better computers than we do)"
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by spazsinbad » 01 May 2012, 09:39

Another 'maintainer training' story here:

F-35 Training Takes Wing at Eglin AFB Apr. 30, 2012 By ALAN DRON

"...Around 120 instructors — provided by the U.S. services and Lockheed Martin Global Training and Logistics — will train about 100 pilots plus 2,200 maintenance students annually. Besides the three U.S. services, at least eight other nations that have purchased the F-35 will send pilots and ground crews to Eglin. The first overseas nations to begin training will be the U.K. and Netherlands, whose personnel will arrive later this year.

Home to a full spectrum of advanced courseware and technology, the ITC includes electronic classrooms, Pilot Training Aids, Full Mission Simulators and the aircraft themselves....

...At Eglin’s F-35 Academic Training Center (ATC), students work with computer simulators that provide near-realistic interaction with the F-35, aided by a digital avatar, Elgin spokeswoman Maj. Karen Roganov said in an Air Force news release. Additional virtual training is provided on life-size mock-ups of F-35 components.

All students go through almost identical training in their first week, with each following procedures in checking out virtual tools, reading maintenance checklists, and individually performing tasks. They then split up into their specific disciplines to train virtually at the ATC. Finally, they move out to the operational side of the 33rd Fighter Wing’s site at Eglin, where the initial production F-35s are housed with each service’s flying squadron. This gives them the opportunity to put what they have learned into practice on real aircraft.

Lockheed Martin says courseware is built around a flexible modular design, allowing trainees from different services to learn the ropes without the creation of multiple training suites of variant-specific hardware and software....

...Ground Crew Training
Major maintenance training systems will include electronic classrooms and the actual aircraft, plus an Aircraft Systems Maintenance Trainer, weapons load trainer, and an ejection seat maintenance trainer.

In March, about 100 maintenance students from the three U.S. services began the inaugural classes at the ATC, and just a month later eight basic familiarization courses were operating. Today, the first groups of ground crew students have completed their initial F-35 courses in fields such as structures, avionics and weapons. Crew chiefs assigned to the 33rd Fighter Wing have already gained familiarization with flight line tasks and performed duties out on the line associated with generating sorties.

“This is hugely significant for all services because we are getting our maintainers prepped for when we are fully stood-up for F-35 training in the near future,” Col. Andrew Toth, who commands the 33rd Fighter Wing CO, said in an Air Force news release.

Unsurprisingly, the first courses are populated by experienced maintenance personnel; brand-new maintenance students should arrive at the ATC in early 2014....

MUCH MORE at the JUMP - Pilot training is a big part of the story also.


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by bjr1028 » 01 May 2012, 13:47

This could be interesting. Night and day difference between the way the Air Force does things and the Navy/Marine Corps way when it comes to aircraft maintenance. The people I know on active duty are very concerned about culture clashes in the 33d MXG or the Air Force trying to meddle.


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by spazsinbad » 01 May 2012, 14:01

Well it is the same engine after all: "...Buus added that the engine has the same thrust rating across all three variants and that no special anti-corrosion or FOD (foreign object damage) tolerance modifications have been made for the F-35C.

“I’d go so far as to say nothing at all. It’s the same engine.
”... http://www.defensemedianetwork.com/stor ... 9D-legs-2/

See also: http://www.f-16.net/f-16_forum_viewtopi ... rt-15.html (scroll down)


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by doge » 10 Aug 2019, 09:49

Eglin's new 53 rd Wing commander praises F-35. 8)
https://www.crestviewbulletin.com/news/ ... ng-mission
Eglin’s new 53rd Wing commander talks about testing mission
By Jim Thompson Posted Jul 29, 2019
With regard to a specific weapons system, there has been a lot of reporting about the new F-35 fighter jet, in terms of challenges facing that program such as spare parts issues. Is the F-35 a problematic aircraft in terms of operational testing?

“I would say that it’s not been difficult to operationally test the F-35. One of the neat things is that the F-35 is kind of like the iPhone. It’s a piece of hardware, but what makes it amazing are the apps, or that software, that goes into it. Because it’s a very software-centric aircraft, as we discover things, we’re able to produce new mission data files that update the software, and we can evolve it very quickly.

Any new, very expensive, weapons system program is always going to be controversial. The F-35 has had a lot of controversy about it ... but I will tell you that having integrated with, and flown alongside F-35s, and having lots of friends that flew F-15s with me who have transitioned to the F-35, that it is a vastly capable aircraft.”



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