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USMC F-35B #169024 lands on the flight deck of the amphibious assault ship USS Wasp (LHD 1) on May 18th, 2015. Wasp, embarked with VMFA-121 and VMFAT-501 conducting the first phase of operational testing (OT-1). Ship trial will assess the integration of the F-35B while operating across a wide array of flight and deck operations, maintenance operations and logistical supply chain support in an at-sea environment. Data and lessons learned will lay the groundwork for F-35B deployments aboard U.S. Navy amphibious carriers following the Marine Corps’ F-35B initial operating capability (IOC) declaration in July of 2015. [USNavy photo by MCS. Zhiwei Tan]
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USMC F-35B #169024 lands on the flight deck of the amphibious assault ship USS Wasp (LHD 1) on May 18th, 2015. Wasp, embarked with VMFA-121 and VMFAT-501 conducting the first phase of operational testing (OT-1). [USNavy photo by MCS. Zhiwei Tan]
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USMC F-35B #168311 (VM-10) of VMFAT-501 from MCAS Beaufort, which is now responsible for all Marine Corps F-35B pilot training. Pilots from the United Kingdom and Italy who will be flying the short takeoff/vertical landing variant of the Lightning II will also be trained at Beaufort. [Lockheed photo by Liz Kaszynski]
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Aerial refueling qualification for the F-35B is done when the student pilot completes initial training and gets to his or her next assignment. Here, two VMFAT-501 instructors take on fuel from a Marine KC-130J Battleherk tanker off the South Carolina coast, while two more instructors wait their turn. The KC-130J and its crew are assigned to Marine Aerial Refueler Transport Squadron 252 (VMGR-252) at MCAS Cherry Point. [Lockheed photo by Liz Kaszynski]
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USMC F-35B #168309 of VMFAT-501 flies over the US southeast coast. [Photo by Liz Kaszynski]
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Lockheed Martin test pilot Bill Gigliotti executed the first F-35B short takeoff and short landing in Fort Worth during the second company test flight of BF-38 (#169023, VM-10) on October 14th, 2014. [Lockheed photo by Randy Crites]
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USMC F-35B #169028 from VMFAT-501 seen on a test flight at Fort Worth on June 6th, 2015. [Photo by Keith Snyder]
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USMC F-35B #169027 from VMFAT-501 during a test flight on March 27th, 2015. [Photo by Keith Snyder]
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USMC F-35B #168717 with Marine Operational and Test Evaluation Squadron 22 (VMX-22) sits under a canopy while Marines conduct post flight checks aboard Edwards AFB on October 9th, 2014. [Photo by Cpl. Owen Kimbrel]
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USMC F-35B #169164, destined for VMFAT-501, spotted on a test flight at NAS Fort Worth in August of 2015. [Photo by Keith Snyder]
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USMC F-35C #169160 taking off at NAS Fort Worth on September 2nd, 2015. The aircraft will eventually be assigned to VFA-101 'Grim Reapers'. [Photo by Seadogg]
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US Marines F-35C #169160 on its second flight at NAS Fort Worth on October 2nd, 2015 destined for VFA-101. Note it has received only partial squadron markings so far. [Photo by Keith Snyder]
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US Marines F-35B #169167 on its first flight at NAS Fort Worth on October 2nd, 2015. [Photo by Keith Snyder]
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US Marines F-35B #169167 on its second flight from NAS Fort Worth on October 3rd, 2015. STOVL approaches and hover checks have now been included in the second flight procedure and no chase a/c is launched to accompany the Lightning - both modifications of earlier flight testing for the B models. [Photo by Keith Snyder]
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Two USMC F-35B joint strike fighter Jets conduct aerial maneuvers during aerial refueling training over the Atlantic Ocean on August 13th, 2015. The mission of VMFAT squadron 501 is to conduct effective training and operations in the F-35B in coordination with joint and coalition partners in order to successfully attain the annual pilot training requirement. VMFAT-501 is based at MCAS Air Station Beaufort. [USMC photo by Cpl. N.W. Huertas]
