Marine test pilot makes first F-35B night landing at sea

Production milestones, roll-outs, test flights, service introduction and other milestones.
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by XanderCrews » 29 Aug 2013, 21:06

spazsinbad wrote:Had to laugh about some anti-F-35B websites complaining about the 'shooter' cringing during STO. Note in the video he does not even clench the deck tiedown fitting (I'll guess he could have done so if required?).


People were actually trying to make that an issue? Wow.


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by sprstdlyscottsmn » 29 Aug 2013, 21:14

the B is becoming such a success that they grasp and anything they can.
"Spurts"

-Pilot
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-Army Medic
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-PATRIOT Systems Engineer


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by spazsinbad » 29 Aug 2013, 23:08

Marines Put F-35B STOVL Jet Through Paces At Sea 29 Aug 2013 Colin Clark
"More than 1,200 Marine test pilots, engineers, experts from the Joint Program Office running the program and Navy and industry civilians are collecting enormous amounts of data from the two aircraft, BF-1 and BF-5, and the ship itself to ensure the planes are performing as they should....

...both JSF planes had glitches while we were out on the ship, though BF-1 began flying again soon after we left. The second plane appeared to have a “pretty significant problem,” a crew member told me. Its Integrated Power Package, a sort of super generator that powers many of the plane’s sophisticated electronics would not start. I’ve emailed the Joint Program Office for an update and will update this as soon as we hear from them.

One of the biggest concerns about the F-35B, which directs most of the engine’s power directly down to the ship’s deck as it lands, was that it would damage the ship’s deck so much at each landing that the Wasp and other ships — or the F-35B — would have to be redesigned to mitigate that problem. I spoke with several deck crew, the men and women who wear yellow shirts on the carrier deck and execute the dangerous ballet of launching and retrieving aircraft from the Wasp. They say that, after taking off and landing several times almost every day since Aug. 12, they are seeing less damage to the deck than it sustains from some other aircraft that routinely fly from the Wasp and other LHD class ships.

The Navy and Marines have added a new coating to the deck where F-35Bs land, called Thermion. From all accounts, it’s a remarkable product composed of aluminum and ceramic bonded together by heat at application to form a very smooth and tough heat-resistant coating.

There is one part of the ship that is sustaining unanticipated — if not critical — damage, namely the edge of the bow. Nets to catch crew members who might lose their footing in rough seas or be blown down by a passing aircraft are being severely rattled by the enormous downwash from the F-35B’s jet engine as it passes low over the end of the ship. The wire netting is snapping and some of the structure that supports the nets is being bent. And lights just under the deck’s lip are being shattered.

Chief Steven Vlasich, who is responsible for maintaining the deck, took me up to check the damage. I saw a few snapped wires. It didn’t look too bad, but then Vlasich and his crew had been fixing everything they could. The chief and three other yellow shirts told me the Thermion appeared to be working well. But Vlasich said he’d like to keep much of the deck covered with its current aluminum product, which is much rougher than Thermion. He thinks it gives crew members better traction, especially when the deck is wet and covered in leaking hydraulic fluid and oil.

Joe Spitz, a systems engineer with Naval Sea Systems Command, told me they’ve got several solutions they’re considering for the nets. One would be pretty simple: drop them down as the jets take off.

He doesn’t agree with Vlasich about Thermion. He says it is safer than the older surface and grips better. Perhaps most important, you can clean oil and other fluid from it more effectively, Spitz says. The Wasp is reportedly going to have its entire deck coated in Thermion.

But these are secondary, if important issues. What really matters to those on the Wasp is that they are getting the F-35B into the air consistently and safely...."

http://breakingdefense.com/2013/08/29/7646/


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by spazsinbad » 29 Aug 2013, 23:25

Turn up the volume to ELEVEN!

F-35B Day Landing USS Wasp

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMl1hgZlHHI


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by spazsinbad » 30 Aug 2013, 06:04

F-35B DT 2 Update: A few hours on the USS Wasp 30 Aug 2013 Amy Butler
"...Peter Wilson, a BAE test pilot, was able to test the F-35B landing at four headings, each 90-deg. apart. He says the testing validates the aircraft can conduct VLs at any heading on the ship.

The VLs were conducted on spots in the aft portion of the ship that have been treated with Thermion, a new heat resistant coating the includes ceramic and steel; it is a vast improvement over the current anti-skid coating used on the deck and might be applied to other F-35 ships in the future, says Joe Spitz, lead tester on deck for Naval Sea Systems Command.

During one of the tests, Wilson landed an F-35B with its nose off toward the port side of the deck and its engine and hot nozzle exhaust on the port side. During this test, the engine nozzle was just at the demarcation on the deck between the Thermion and baseline anti-skid coatings on the deck. The effects are obvious. The anti-skid coating is brown as a result of the intense heat, while the Thermion appears unaffected.

Spitz says that while the anti-skid coating typical on can handle F-35 operations, its service life could be compromised over time. So, the Navy is assessing whether it will outline decks – or at least portions to be used by the F-35B – with this Thermion material in the future. The performance tradeoff is cost; Thermion is more expensive, he says.

However, heat output is an issue also with the MV-22s landing on the decks of carriers and small-deck ships, so it is possible the Navy will take into account the operational use of these tiltrotor aircraft as it plots a way forward for the use of Thermion.

Below, the dark section on the right is the Thermion coating. You can see on the left where Wilson landed with the engine nozzle just over the divider between the Thermion and standard anti-skid -- the the latter a bit toasted...."

http://www.aviationweek.com/Blogs.aspx? ... 344c382ecb

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BIG PIC:
http://sitelife.aviationweek.com/ver1.0 ... b.Full.jpg


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by spazsinbad » 30 Aug 2013, 13:29

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WASPdeckSternZoomF-35Bs.jpg


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by spazsinbad » 30 Aug 2013, 21:43

LONG nightime VIDEO STOs & VLs USS Wasp F-35B DT-II

F-35B Lightning II Testing Night Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxaNt98yVE4

DayTime FlyCo Big Pic: http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7406/9602 ... f9d3_o.jpg (6Mb)
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by spazsinbad » 30 Aug 2013, 22:18



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by quicksilver » 30 Aug 2013, 22:29

Thank you Amy for the pics ref the Thermion (and Spaz for posting). This will silence all but the lunatic fringe about deck melting etc.

It should be noted however, that Harrier exhaust discolors traditional non-skid in the same fashion.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Elf2AgKi510
Last edited by quicksilver on 31 Aug 2013, 03:48, edited 3 times in total.


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by spazsinbad » 30 Aug 2013, 23:43

What is with the 'IPP' patch? Is that a joke or just a way to place the IPP over that exact spot when aircraft chained or secured before start or something. Is there more than one IPP patch or just this one 'joke'? Sailors - you cannot take them anywhere except to apologise. :D

http://sitelife.aviationweek.com/ver1.0 ... 4.Full.jpg
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IPPpatch F-35B WASP 550adb45-a3fd-48c5-a612-fdd6dd8ea0f4_Large.jpg
Last edited by spazsinbad on 31 Aug 2013, 22:58, edited 1 time in total.


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by quicksilver » 31 Aug 2013, 00:14

spazsinbad wrote:What is with the 'IPP' patch? Is that a joke or just a way to place the IPP over that exact spot when aircraft chained or secured before start or something. Is there more than one IPP patch or just this one 'joke'? Sailors - you cannot take them anywhere except to apologise. :D


No joke. The F135 wasn't the only thing that the Henny Pennys said was going to melt the flight deck -- it was the IPP also.

Thus, there have been all sorts of test points (engineering science projects) set up to assess the effect of IPP exhaust on the flight deck.

Problem with the test is that the exhaust geometry of the IPPs on the SDD jets does not match that of production jets. IOW, the production jets are more benign than the SDD jets because the exhaust has more time to cool off before it impinges on a given horizontal surface.

Since this is flight test, they've been parking the jets in specific locations where they can assess the effects of IPP exhaust. Never mind that they did a lot of instrumented work a couple years ago on this stuff... :roll:


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by spazsinbad » 31 Aug 2013, 01:44

Here is one reference to the new 'oval' shape of the IPP: http://www.f-16.net/index.php?name=PNph ... val#201318

JSF Heat Woes Getting Fixed Naval Open Source INTelligence July 19, 2010
“Changes are being made to the integrated power package (IPP) on the Marine’s F-35(B) that should limit heat damage to carrier decks and other surfaces, Lt. Gen. George Trautman, deputy commandant for aviation, told DoD Buzz in an exclusive interview one day before the start of the Farnborough Air Show.

In addition, the heat buildup from the STOVL drive shaft will be addressed in LRIP 4, although negotiations on that are still underway so costs for that are not set yet.

“We have made the decision to adjust the IPP,” he said Sun-day, reshaping the nozzle so that the enormous [?] thrust comes out in an oval shape instead of the more highly focused circle now used. It takes a “slight adjustment” to the IPP. The oval “will resolve that problem for almost all surfaces,” he said.”

http://nosint.blogspot.com/2010/07/jsf- ... fixed.html
Last edited by spazsinbad on 01 Sep 2013, 09:50, edited 1 time in total.


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by quicksilver » 31 Aug 2013, 03:39

spazsinbad wrote:Here is one reference to the new 'oval' shape of the IPP: http://www.f-16.net/index.php?name=PNph ... val#201318

JSF Heat Woes Getting Fixed Naval Open Source INTelligence July 19, 2010
“Changes are being made to the integrated power package (IPP) on the Marine’s F-35(B) that should limit heat damage to carrier decks and other surfaces, Lt. Gen. George Trautman, deputy commandant for aviation, told DoD Buzz in an exclusive interview one day before the start of the Farnborough Air Show.

In addition, the heat buildup from the STOVL drive shaft will be addressed in LRIP 4, although negotiations on that are still underway so costs for that are not set yet.

“We have made the decision to adjust the IPP,” he said Sun-day, reshaping the nozzle so that the enormous [?] thrust comes out in an oval shape instead of the more highly focused circle now used. It takes a “slight adjustment” to the IPP. The oval “will resolve that problem for almost all surfaces,” he said.”

http://nosint.blogspot.com/2010/07/jsf- ... fixed.html


The writer didn't have a clue, and the quote above puts the evidence in-writing. The IPP is essentially an APU. It does not produce 'enormous thrust' in any operating mode -- period. The adjustment they made simply shifted the exhaust angle so it doesn't impinge directly on any surface beneath it.

Notice the effect of the IPP was anticipated to be "so extreme" that they simply painted a spot on the flight deck where they anticipated the exhaust would impinge.

YGBSM :roll:


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by spazsinbad » 31 Aug 2013, 05:56

Looks pristine - that spot. :D


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by lookieloo » 31 Aug 2013, 06:15

They should paint the entire deck with "WHERE'S THE HOLE SWEETMAN?"


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