Marine 1st Military Pilot to Hit 1,000 Flight Hours in F-35B

[spazsinbad]

Marine Becomes First Military Pilot to Hit 1,000 Flight Hours in F-35 Fighter
29 Jan 2020 Oriana Pawlyk

"A U.S. Marine Corps pilot just made history as the first to surpass 1,000 flight hours in the F-35B Joint Strike Fighter. Lt. Col. Brian W. Bann became the first to accomplish the feat in the service's F-35 Lightning II model while delivering a new aircraft to Marine Aircraft Group 13 at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, Arizona, last month, officials announced Wednesday....

...Bann is an acceptance test pilot for all three fifth-generation fighter variants; he's currently assigned to the Defense Contract Management Agency at Lockheed Martin's F-35 production facility in Fort Worth, Texas, according to a news release....

...Bann, who commissioned in 2000, is one of the first Marine Corps' F-35 pilots and began training on it at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, in 2013, according to his biography. He has accumulated 3,000 hours in various fighter aircraft, the release said.

Bann also has experience as an inter-service pilot. He flew the AV-8B Harrier II with Marine Attack Squadron 211 at MCAS Yuma and piloted the F-16 Fighting Falcon for the Air Force with the 55th Fighter Squadron at Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina, the release added....

...In 2017, Lockheed Martin test pilot David "Doc" Nelson became the first pilot to achieve 1,000 flight hours in an F-35 belonging to Edward Air Force Base's 461st Flight Test Squadron in California."

Source: https://www.military.com/daily-news/202 ... ghter.html

[Corsair1963]

Marine Corps Activates Second F-35B Fleet Replacement Squadron

ARLINGTON, Va. — The U.S. Marine Corps has activated a second fleet replacement squadron to train aviators to fly its F-35B Lightning II strike fighters.

Marine Fighter Attack Training Squadron 502 (VMFAT-502) was activated on June 26 at Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort, South Carolina, and eventually will help carry the load of F-35B training as the Marines increase the number of F-35Bs in the Corps.

Beaufort also is the location of the first F-35B replacement training squadron, VMFAT-501. Sometime in the future, the VMFAT-502 will move to MCAS Miramar, California.

VMFAT-502 actually is a reactivation of Marine Attack Squadron 513 (VMA-513), an AV-8B Harrier II squadron that was deactivated in 2013. Upon reactivation, VMA-513 was redesignated VMFAT-502 the same day of the reactivation ceremony.

VMFAT-502 will be known as the “Nightmares,” carrying on the traditions of VMA-513. The squadron originally was activated in 1944 and in its various iterations over the years has seen combat in World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Persian Gulf War, and Operation Enduring Freedom.

Lt. Col. Carlton A. Wilson is the first commanding officer of VMFAT-502.

https://seapowermagazine.org/marine-cor ... DK__O5Ij1Q

[spazsinbad]

F-35 Units F-35 unit & base selection, delivery, activation VMFAT-502 'Nightmares' Article above posted here earlier:

viewtopic.php?f=59&p=441577#p441577