
Thanks for that - so you paid?... And Paid... AND PAID....

'brungitonyourself'

I can see now how a 'deadspot' was the canopy bow obstructing refuelling view at night (I guess). I'll dig that out now....
This stuff fell off a truck via e-mail and I do not ask... AND BEWARE the DATE is Aug 2013...
F-35B Pilots Conduct Night Shipboard Landing Without Night-Vision
Posted on InsideDefense.com: August 30, 2013
"...In May, Col. Kevin Killea, then-branch head for aviation weapon systems requirements, told Inside the Navy that the night-vision camera in the F-35 helmet was an "abject failure."
"This camera that is on the current Gen II helmet, it went through testing just like everything else did and the test pilots said, 'It's not good, we recommend that you don't use it in any phase of [night?] flight,'" he said.
The problem with the camera is the night-vision acuity. The Marines would like to be as close to 20/20 as possible, but it's at best 20/35, Killea stated.
"This was off-the-charts poor," he added.
However, the Marines will be able to fly at night because of the distributed aperture system (DAS), Killea added.
The service will have to adjust its tactics, techniques and procedures while it waits for the new camera to be retrofitted into the helmets. The new camera is supposed to be delivered in 2015 but it will take about a year to retrofit the helmets, he said.
The information the Marines gather during the fall test period will inform how the pilots will operate on amphibious ships between initial operational capability and when all the new cameras are put into the helmets.
The DAS system cannot be used for tanking and shipboard operations because the system has a blind spot, he said.
Moreover, the helmet is still not where the Marine Corps would like it to be, Brig. Gen. Jerry Glavy, assistant deputy commandant for aviation at HQMC, told reporters on the Wasp.
Glavy said the service has confidence in the F-35 joint program office getting it right...."
A4G Skyhawk: www.faaaa.asn.au/spazsinbad-a4g/ & www.youtube.com/channel/UCwqC_s6gcCVvG7NOge3qfAQ/videos?view_as=subscriber