F-35C Lands at Lakehurst For Testing

Are you kiddin' me? I'm from a different country with probably less cynicism than perhaps what you are used to. Cynicism is easy in my book. However I regard public statements (unless later - or then - shown to be otherwise) by authorised high ranking defence personnel to be OK for the time they are spoken. Which of course in retrospect may not prove to be true if that person is making a prediction. Facts are facts. A USN Captain takes responsibility for a mistake. End of story. No conspiracy. Meanwhile the story is positive about the BOING! comments from BOING! about their future. Where is the USN angle?

Boeing are in a tight spot at the moment. They can probably afford long-lead items to keep the production line going, but not do a multibillion dollar upgrade program without funding from DoD or an export customer. They have the physical F/A-18E/Fs available for the test program, but with the F/A-18BR upgrade derailed its not looking good. Kuwait might be an option because they have funds and F/A-18Cs that are 20 years old.

I think its admirable that Capt. Morley publicly took responsibility and clarified the situation, as this could have major consequences when Wall St analysts start speculating. There was no conspiracy here.

As we know the military plan for all kinds of eventualities. Then funnily enough we see the US Congress adding funding for future Shornets in the last passed budget. I reckon you should look at the US dysfunctional congress for all kinds of shenanigans. But that is not my country - so I basically ignore it all - and go for the facts as they are known (to the public anyway).

They have to put the budget request to Congress for acquisitions to move forward, and Congress can add funding for things the Pentagon don't really want like more C-27Js.

[...]
“From 9 to 16 Jan, the F-35 team accomplished 36 successful roll-in arrestment tests at Lakehurst with the redesigned F-35C arresting hook system on CF-3,” wrote Joe DellaVedova, a spokesman for the F-35 Joint Program Office in a Tuesday email to USNI News. “All flight test objectives were met.”

[...]

“The aircraft has ferried back to Patuxent River, where it will now commence 3-4 month series of field-based ship suitability tests, including fly-in arrestments that are scheduled to begin soon,” DellaVedova said.
“These tests are expected to lead to a certification of the F-35C for shipboard flight trials, which are planned to commence in Oct. 2014.”

[...]

Source: http://news.usni.org/2014/01/28/navys-f ... sea-trials

More news to follow soon

The 'mysterious' number in the PLAT/ILARTS footage screenshot above - lower right corner is....

rate of descent in ft/sec

&&&&.... Just another recent NavAvUtubeyVid to get youse in the mood (no ILARTS though)... watch 'em at work.

All the hookylookyloo stuff from latest DOTE Jan 2014 report about 2013 snatchin'.

F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) DOTE Jan 2014

"...F-35C Flight Sciences
Flight Test Activity with CF-1, CF-2, and CF-3 Test Aircraft
• F-35C flight sciences focused on:...
...-- Carrier suitability testing in preparation for the first set of ship trials scheduled for mid-CY14. The program
configured aircraft CF-3 with a modified and instrumented nose landing gear system to begin initial catapult testing in August 2013. The test team modified CF-3 with the new arresting hook system and began on-aircraft testing with rolling engagements in late CY13....

...Flight Sciences Assessment...
...• Weight management is important for meeting air vehicle performance requirements. The aircraft weight is computed monthly, and adjusted for known corrections from engineering estimates and production modifications.

-- The program added 139 pounds to the F-35C weight status in May 2013 to account for the redesigned arresting hook system. The latest weight status report from October 2013 showed the estimated weight of 34,593 pounds to be within 275 pounds (0.79 percent) of the projected maximum weight needed to meet technical performance requirements in January 2016.

-- This margin allows for 0.35 percent weight growth per year. The program will need to continue rigorous weight management through the end of SDD to avoid performance degradation and operational impacts.

F-35C Air-Ship Integration and Ship Suitability Testing...
...-- The program began testing its redesigned arresting hook system on a flight test aircraft in late CY13. The redesign was necessary after the original system failed to engage the cable and demonstrate sufficient load-carrying capacity. The arresting hook system remains an integration risk as the JSF development schedule leaves no time for new discoveries. Other risks include the potential for gouging of the flight deck after a missed cable engagement (due to an increase in weight of 139 pounds) and the potential for sparking from the tail hook across the flight deck because of the increased weight and sharper geometry of the redesigned hook...."

http://www.dote.osd.mil/pub/reports/FY2 ... Report.pdf (48Mb)

I'm guessing the 'fly-in' test rig needs to be available (or maybe there is a problem for 'fly-ins'?). This report is a let down for sure - so FWIW. For Fsake get some FlyIns DONE! And here is another reference to the 'not strong enough' with a good reason why the AHS weighs so much extra now (139lbs?). And I guess NIMITZ is coming out of a long refit RICO or whatever?

Navy’s F-35 Tailhook Passes Initial Tests; Carrier Flights In October 05 Feb 2014 Colin Clark

"The F-35C, the Navy version of the Joint Strike Fighter and the plane most in danger of being cut or reduced by its service, has passed the first round of critical tests of its tail hook, the part of the plane that makes traditional carrier landings possible.

“All flight test objectives were met,” Joe DellaVedova, F-35 program spokesman, said in an email. “We’re not declaring victory but last month (9 to 16 Jan) the F-35 team accomplished 36 successful roll-in arrestment tests at Lakehurst with the redesigned F-35C arresting hook system on CF-3.”

CF-3 is the first F-35C to be fitted with the redesigned Arresting Hook System, as it’s formally known. The plane has returned to the Navy’s Patuxent River test facility where for the next three to four months it will undergo “field-based ship suitability tests, including fly-in arrestments.” Those tests are expected to lead to a certification of the F-35C for carrier flight trials, planned for October aboard the USS Nimitz (CVN-68)....

...Here’s some background on the tail hook problem. The initial design did not reliably engage the cable and wasn’t strong enough. “Improved damping and optimized hookpoint shape addressed part one,” DellaVedova said. And they basically redesigned the tail hook and made it, and where it connects with the airframe, much stronger."

Source: http://breakingdefense.com/2014/02/navy ... n-october/

...Here’s some background on the tail hook problem. The initial design did not reliably engage the cable and wasn’t strong enough. “Improved damping and optimized hookpoint shape addressed part one,” DellaVedova said. And they basically redesigned the tail hook and made it, and where it connects with the airframe, much stronger."

Well, that explains the extra 139lbs.

And I guess NIMITZ is coming out of a long refit RICO or whatever?

Nimitz is in port in Everett (on the left coast,) after returning recently from SW Asia and the Med. I guess it will take time to drive the boat to the other side of the country. But it's not in RCOH.

“We’re not declaring victory...." That part of the PAOs statement is interesting.

'maus92' if it is not obvious to you - there is a lot of F-35C AHS testing yet to occur before 'victory over whatever' is declared. OK? I'll suggest an all out bombing campaign [for 'victory over whatever']. On who? Guess Who? Not THE WHO - greatest band ever apart from the Strolling Bones, Jimi Hendrix, the KINKS just to name a few. But I digress. The testing of the F-35C AHS will be amazing. I hope we see the 'near crash' fly-ins on video and the like. Of course I want know harm done to humans or the aircraft however it can get tricky if the 3 year SHornet testing is anything to go by.

Just a friendly reminder about how the SHornet was tested in this story.

Unnatural Acts of Landing The Kneeboard | Spring 2012 Page 4

"For most people, the idea of flight testing means seeing how fast an airplane can go or how quickly it can maneuver. While answering these questions may be part of a flight test program, there is more to flight testing than speed and agility. Navy carrier aircraft must also withstand the stressful loads of repeated arrested landings (traps) that can exceed 6 Gs on the aircraft.

The landing gear must:
‣ Survive thousands of landing shocks
‣ Reduce the loads reaching the aircraft structures and crew
‣ Allow the pilot to stay in control of the aircraft’s behavior

Ground Loads Testing shows that an aircraft structure can withstand carrier operations at maximum takeoff and landing weights. Normal landings at these conditions are no problem. But testing must also show that an aircraft can absorb these loads when:

‣ Its sink rate (how fast it descends) is high (as much as 26 feet per second!)
‣ Its wings are not level when it lands
‣ Its tailhook catches an arresting cable to the side of the center line
‣ The carrier deck pitches and heaves

Many of these conditions require test pilots to perform semi-unnatural acts of flying. They must intentionally make landings that appear sloppy and awkward, which goes against all of their training as Naval Aviators. To make things even more challenging, the “sloppiness” must be precise and repeatable to give test engineers the information that they need. Achieving these normally undesirable landing conditions requires intense concentration and will power.

However, sometimes even superior flying skills are not enough to produce the required test conditions. Sometimes the aircraft itself must be modified to allow it to do things that it would not normally be inclined to do.

For example, for F/A-18E/F Super Hornet Ground Loads Testing, flight test engineers developed a flight control system that allowed test pilots to set the leading and trailing edge flaps in flight to positions that would not normally be available. This unique control system made it possible to approach the touchdown point at high speeds while descending rapidly with the nose pitched up higher than normal.

For such potentially high-risk testing, many operating and safety procedures must be followed. This takes time and careful attention to detail. (For example, the aircraft must be refueled often to keep the test weights the same.) A pilot might typically spend 5 or more hours in the cockpit for a single test flight and yet log less than 1 hour of actual flight time. Patience was mandatory!

During Super Hornet development, Ground Loads Testing required 125 test flights, 370 catapult launches, 471 traps, and three years to complete. Incidents included blown tires and various airplane parts (other than the wheels and tailhook) hitting the deck.

My thanks to Mike “Sting” Wallace and Tom “Gurns” Gurney for their help!"

http://api.ning.com/files/8OBnZkm85rrIM ... ng2012.pdf (1Mb)

Article a repeat mostly of news already told with a few extra detail excerpted below....

With New Hook, First F-35 Carrier Trap Set For October
11 Feb 2014 (NAVY TIMES 17 FEB 14) … Mark Faram

"Navy officials say the Navy’s F-35C variant of the Lightning II joint strike fighter could “call the ball” sometime in October for the plane’s first shipboard landing....

...The first carrier arrested landing will happen off the West Coast on board the aircraft carrier Nimitz, Meyers confirmed....

...Those tests will be conducted by test pilots from Pax River.

Strike Fighter Squadron 101, the Navy’s JSF fleet replacement squadron currently based at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., could begin carrier qualifications as early as 2015, if all goes well.

The Navy has received eight F-35Cs to date; five are test versions at Patuxent River, the other three are the service’s first production aircraft in use at VFA 101...."

Source: http://hrana.org/news/2014/02/with-new- ... r-october/

@Mods: Can we have an an "ignore thread" or "mark permanently as read" function on the board for these DELIBERATE concern-troll redundancies, which are obviously meant to start arguments out-of-context?

There is the 'add foe' function where you can block out all posts from user X

Just for the record, I wasn't trolling for comments, had I known the article was already posted, I wouldn't have posted it. But I do think it is a valid question given some of the USN actions of late.

I merged the two threads Simple as that.

I see the video above has 'gone PRIVATE'. Apologies - I have no control over that. Probably for the best anyway....

There we go.....

Some fly-in footage @ 2:21....

A year old today but anyway there is a different way to make youtube videos here, I'll test the time to start thingo:

Nope - time to start at arrest is this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pl ... yQzc#t=142

STRING TO MAKE Utubbies appear ( just add first missing bracket [ ) - - youtube]8HvOFTIyQzc[/youtube]

F-35 Lightning II Program Status and Fast Facts 18 Feb 2014
...Highlights of the Last Two Months...
...Navy’s F-35C Completes Shore-based Testing at Naval Air Engineering Station Lakehurst, NJ. (Jan. 16)

SOURCE: https://www.f35.com/assets/uploads/down ... ry2014.pdf (182Kb)