Forum: General F-35 Forum

http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articl ... 5b-374565/

USMC hopes to leverage USAF’s F-22 experience when deploying F-35B

Dave Majumdar Washington DC

The US Marine Corps hopes to leverage the US Air Force's experience with the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor to develop concepts of operations for its F-35B Joint Strike Fighter-also built by Lockheed.

At Eglin AFB, Florida, the USMC has begun training its first F-35B aviator who is not a test pilot: Lt Col David "Chip" Berke, commander of the base's VMFAT-501 training squadron. But while he is not a test pilot, in his previous assignment Berke was an F-22 exchange pilot with the USAF's elite 422nd Test and Evaluation Squadron (422nd TES) at Nellis AFB, Nevada.

The USMC, having anticipated that the transition to the fifth-generation F-35B could be difficult, asked the USAF to allow one of their aviators to experience the Raptor's transition training, operational testing and tactics development pipelines. The USAF agreed to the USMC's request, and Berke spent four years flying with many of the best fighter pilots the USAF has to offer.

"The Marine Corps sent Lt Col "Chip" Berke ...with a very specific purpose in mind," ..."Because fifth-generation essentially changes everything, we wanted to expose one of our best aviators to the clear operational edge the F-22 has over all legacy strike fighters."
....

Berke, who is one flight away from becoming qualified as an F-35B pilot, says that the F-22 and F-35, while not designed for the same mission, share a number of common characteristics. The focus for the USMC is on what is similar between the two aircraft.
.....

.. both aircraft incorporate sensor fusion .... "The concept of how that fusion-information is presented to the pilot is very similar between the two aircraft."

Perhaps the biggest change from the fourth to the fifth-generation fighters is the change in mentality that accompanies the transition. Pilots have to think in an entirely different way in the two fifth-generation machines. "The concept of becoming a fifth-gen aviator applies to both the F-22 and F-35 equally," Berke says. "That's a difficult transition. It takes a little bit of time to get used to that."

....

The process to get those USMC aviators ready for operations at VMFA-121 will be very similar to what the USAF does with the F-22 at nearby Tyndall AFB, Florida. "Unlike most other aircraft, the F-22 and F-35 have to prepare a pilot to fly solo on day one," Berke says. ...."

.. F-35... is constantly receiving new software upgrades, the VMFAT-501 has developed courses for pilots to transition from one avionics software block to another relatively painlessly. The squadron's instructors have also developed courses to allow new pilots to transition directly to the newest configuration, Berke says.

Berke's experience should also help the USMC's operational testers as they begin their conversion to the F-35B. .... But elements of the USAF's methodology might be useful to the naval services as they move toward deploying the F-35.

more after you jump! Smile

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Jump here for SLDinfo take on Berke also: STROLL DOWN Very Happy

also

F-35 Article in Latest JFQ

http://www.f-16.net/f-16_forum_viewtopic-t-20050.html

Good foresight by the Marines.. curious though why they wouldn't send a pair of pilots for redundancy though. You never know...

Good foresight by the Marines.. curious though why they wouldn't send a pair of pilots for redundancy though. You never know...

They should take note of your redundant 'popcorn' replies! Very Happy

It is good that the USMC are 'on the ball'. SLDinfo have been trying to get out that message for some time and it is good to see the mainstreamers getting this message also.

From the USAF back into the Marines, eh? Not gonna be easy going from 9 holes of afternoon golf and mai-tai's in the O club next to the pool to actually working for a living! Poor guy. Beer

popcorn wrote:

Good foresight by the Marines.. curious though why they wouldn't send a pair of pilots for redundancy though. You never know...

Huh?? There are a whole buncha pilots at 501. The hold up is the syscom bureaucrats sanctioned by their leadership (hiding behind policy and process) to dissemble, distract and delay flight clearances for the pilots -- board-selected -- to be the amongst first F-35 guys.

quicksilver wrote:

popcorn wrote:

Good foresight by the Marines.. curious though why they wouldn't send a pair of pilots for redundancy though. You never know...

Huh?? There are a whole buncha pilots at 501. The hold up is the syscom bureaucrats sanctioned by their leadership (hiding behind policy and process) to dissemble, distract and delay flight clearances for the pilots -- board-selected -- to be the amongst first F-35 guys.

I think he was wondering why the USMC didn't send two pilots to train with the USAF in F-22's.

Does quicksilver mean 'Fast on the draw'? Wink

...assumption being that F-35 is some lesser capability than F-22? In the context suggested by LtCol Berke, "pioneered by F-22" means "taken to an altogether different level" by F-35.

Forum: General F-35 Forum

USMC hopes to leverage USAF’s F-22 experience for F-35B