Overview of F-35 test flights

Production milestones, roll-outs, test flights, service introduction and other milestones.
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by VarkVet » 11 Nov 2009, 21:27

energo wrote:Howdy,

Split the thread into "F-35 program updates" for general news and comments on the program:
http://www.f-16.net/f-16_forum_viewtopic-t-13143.html

:cheers:

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E man ... since I'm in the AOR ... are you?

Lets meet up at Bone Daddys, or something?

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by energo » 16 Nov 2009, 21:31

AF-1 First Flight (Cumulative flight 130)

Nov. 14 2009. Piloted by Lockheed Martin test pilot David "Doc" Nelson, the F-35A, called AF-1, left Lockheed Martin's Fort Worth plant and flew to 20,000 feet and Mach 0.6. Nelson raised and lowered the landing gear, performed 360-degree rolls and lifted the nose to 20 degrees angle of attack during an 89-minute flight.

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Last edited by energo on 16 Nov 2009, 21:43, edited 1 time in total.


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by energo » 16 Nov 2009, 21:41

Current flight status
As of Monday November 16.

Overall: 130 flights
AA-1: 90 flights
BF-1: 27 flights
BF-2: 12 flights
AF-1: 1 flight


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by gosmack » 17 Nov 2009, 00:22

Awesome! AF-1 has the first flight down. Can't wait to see more. Any idea on the C model?


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by shuck » 17 Nov 2009, 09:58

AA-1 to Edwards CA was this flight 89 and who was the ferry pilot please?
shuck


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by energo » 18 Nov 2009, 09:57

shuck wrote:AA-1 to Edwards CA was this flight 89 and who was the ferry pilot please?


Actually, AA-1 flight 89 on Sept. 9. was a pilot proficiency flight at Fort Worth.
The ferry to EAFB was flight 90 on Sept. 10. A 2.8 hour flight accompanied by a tanker.
Jeff “Slim” Knowles piloted both flights.


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by shuck » 18 Nov 2009, 10:31

energo wrote:
shuck wrote:AA-1 to Edwards CA was this flight 89 and who was the ferry pilot please?


Actually, AA-1 flight 89 on Sept. 9. was a pilot proficiency flight at Fort Worth.
The ferry to EAFB was flight 90 on Sept. 10. A 2.8 hour flight accompanied by a tanker.
Jeff “Slim” Knowles piloted both flights.


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Thanks for that ... was it also Jeff Knowles who took BF-01 to Pax?
shuck


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by spazsinbad » 23 Nov 2009, 21:04

More F-35s to Test? Posted by Graham Warwick at 11/23/2009 11:51 AM CST

http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/blogs/de ... d=blogDest

"We could learn as early as this week what the Pentagon plans to do in a bid to prevent the F-35 development program going massively over budget and schedule. Acquisition chief Ashton Carter met with program officials over the weekend and the prevailing rumor going in was that the Pentagon would add money and aircraft in Fiscal 2011 to accelerate flight testing and get the program back on track to complete development in 2013.

Remember that two aircraft were removed from the flight-test program two years ago as part of a "mid-course review" that increased reliance on integration labs and flying testbeds. The mission-system test aircraft were cut to replenish the management reserve within the program budget, which had been eroded by the SWAT redesign, assembly delays and other issues.

Even if the Pentagon adds money and aircraft to the test program, don't expect any sudden acceleration. Lockheed Martin still has to get all the test aircraft flying - and keep them flying, which has so far not proved that easy. No sooner had the first F-35B arrived at Pax River on Nov. 15 to begin STOVL flight testing when the aircraft went down for 10-12 days' maintenance to remove and replace the time-expired transparency-removal detonation chord bonded to the canopy. The down time was anticipated, and the work planned for Pax, says Lockheed.

Diverting early production aircraft to the test program would seem likely to impact the build-up of the training unit at Elgin, which is scheduled to receive its first CTOL F-35As in July 2010. But one report suggests the additional test aircraft would be Navy carrier-capable F-35Cs, the final version to fly and last to enter service. That would add mission-system test aircraft only towards the end of the development program, but would avoid impacting training, which has to start in 2010 to meet the Marine Corps' 2012 initial operational capability deadline."


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by -blaze- » 29 Nov 2009, 19:39

Hello I would read the whole thread but I would be here for hours so im just going to ask, I hear the F-35 project is most likely going to be scraped is this true? If so what would the reason be Budget, Plane not good (Yeah right) Thanks al ot in advance


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by Gums » 30 Nov 2009, 04:08

Salute!

Previous post by "newbie" blaze is either:

1) Blatant trolling, or
2) A post by someone who's failed to read the whole thread as it would "take hours" - because he is as dumb as a post.

Gums recommends the moderators either ban this dude or counsel him/her about protocol and meaningless posts.

Thanks to energo and others, this is the best thread to find out about what is REALLY happening with the pre-production test phase/progress.

Gums sends ....
Gums
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by neptune » 02 Dec 2009, 05:58

Current flight status As of Monday November 16.

Overall: 130 flights
AA-1: 90 flights
BF-1: 27 flights
BF-2: 12 flights
AF-1: 1 flight


B. Bolsøy
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The two tanking flights for BF-02, were these since 16 Nov?

What is the current flight statuses, please?
When does AA-01 play target fodder? :?:


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by spazsinbad » 11 Dec 2009, 16:11

neptune, is Edwards AFB the target fodder site?

http://startelegram.typepad.com/sky_tal ... ry/page/2/

November 09, 2009 F-35 moves by stealth

"AA-1, the original prototype, made 90 [flights] before it was ferried out to Edwards Air Force Base some time ago."


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by energo » 12 Dec 2009, 01:53

AF-1 flights 1, 2, 3

AF-1 made its inaugural flight on Nov. 14 with a 1.7 hour sortie. Test pilot David "Doc" Nelson flew to 20 thousand feet, 300 knots calibrated airspeed, 0.6 Mach and 20 degrees angle of attack during the flight. Gear was raised and lowered, sideslip and bank maneuvers, full stick 360-degree rolls, and formation flying were conducted.

AF-1 conducted its second and third flights on Nov. 19. The first sortie was for 1.6 hours and utilized a maximum power takeoff. Hot pitting was then used to pump approximately 10,000 pounds of fuel onboard, the first time Hot Pit operations were used to turn a jet for two successful sorties.

The second sortie was a 0.7 hour flight and was with a military power take off. The combined flight time of both sorties was 2.3 hours. Amongst the airworthiness objectives achieved included was Flying Qualities (FQs), Power Approach Controll, Landing gear and throttle transitients and fuel dump at altitudes up to 30K feet, Mach 0,9 and 20 degrees AOA.

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by SpudmanWP » 13 Dec 2009, 18:22

re: weapons tests.... BF-3 is due to proceed with weapon tests mid 2010, AF-1
in mid 2011, and CF-2 in late 2011.

Image


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by Vipernice » 14 Dec 2009, 04:49

That picture reminds me of what has been delayed and especially looking at items in 2009.

Weren't we told the BF-1 should be flying again this week ?

Has any other JSF flown since that November 19 sortie by AF-1 ?


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