some F35 info

[Admiral Beez]

A classic example is the time when a USN F4 Phantom of VF-14 launched with it's wings folded...

You reminded me of this website.

My Wings Are What??

Any pilot or ground crew knows the importance of properly attending to each item on a checklist. Unfortunately, as professional as one wishes to be, we are all vulnerable to one basic and unavoidable truth… no matter how experienced and attentive we are, mistakes can and still do happen. There...

sierrahotel.net

 

[cvairwerks]

A short read about when things go wrong, but everyone walks away:

The Wild Ride of 106 - Issuu

By Dan Sanders

issuu.com

 

[Thumpalumpacus]

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A military fighter jet on its way to an Air Force base in California crashed Tuesday near the international airport in New Mexico's largest city, sending up a large plume of smoke and injuring the pilot.

The pilot, the only person on board, was able to escape after crashing around 2 p.m. on a hillside on the south side of Albuquerque's airport and was taken to a hospital with serious injuries, according to the city's fire department.

U.S. manufacturer Lockheed Martin identified the downed plane as an F-35 that left Fort Worth, Texas, earlier Tuesday and was headed to Edwards Air Force Base near Los Angeles. A spokesperson for Lockheed said in an email to The Associated Press that the fighter jet crashed after the pilot stopped to refuel at Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico.

Neither of the Air Force bases immediately responded to requests for more information.

Pilot injured after military aircraft crashes near Albuquerque airport

The pilot, the only person on board, was able to escape after crashing and was taken to a hospital with serious injuries, according to authorities.

www.airforcetimes.com

 

[special ed]

You reminded me of this website.

My Wings Are What??

Any pilot or ground crew knows the importance of properly attending to each item on a checklist. Unfortunately, as professional as one wishes to be, we are all vulnerable to one basic and unavoidable truth… no matter how experienced and attentive we are, mistakes can and still do happen. There...

sierrahotel.net

In that link, scroll down to "How slow can you go?" for an excellent account of SR-71 flying.

 

[Admiral Beez]

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A military fighter jet on its way to an Air Force base in California crashed Tuesday near the international airport in New Mexico's largest city, sending up a large plume of smoke and injuring the pilot. The pilot, the only person on board, was able to escape after crashing around 2 p.m. on a hillside on the south side of Albuquerque's airport and was taken to a hospital with serious injuries, according to the city's fire department.

I understand crashes happen, but they're a lot more expensive nowadays. 1944, write off your Spitfire via CFIT and the gov't is out about £8000, equal to about £300k (USD $377k) today. Ninety year later, write off your F-35 and the gov't is out about USD $90 million, equal to £1.9 million in 1944, which is a lot when an Illustrious class aircraft carrier cost £3.8 million. And then there's the replacement capacity. Lockheed-Martin can only make them so fast, and I assume the books are full of new orders, not counting for replacements. At least the F-35 pilot survived, as he's the priciest of all.

I expect here in Canada we won't have our first operational squadron of F-35s until the early-2030s. That'll be over fifty years since the CF-18 entered service in 1982. And lord help us when we CFIT or otherwise destroy one. We won't get another for years.

 

[GTX]

I understand crashes happen, but they're a lot more expensive nowadays. 1944, write off your Spitfire via CFIT and the gov't is out about £8000, equal to about £300k (equal to USD $377) today. Ninety year later, write off your F-35 and the gov't is out about USD $90 million.

But accidents are also less likely these days

At least the F-35 pilot survived, as he's the priciest of all.

She...I understand it was a female pilot

I expect here in Canada we won't have our first operational squadron of F-35s until the early-2030s. That'll be over fifty years since the CF-18 entered service in 1982. And lord help us when we CFIT or otherwise destroy one. We won't get another for years.

I understand the first RCAF F-35 is due in 2026. Not sure of exact IOC of first squadron though I believe it will be before the end of the decade as the CF-18s are due to cease operations in 2032.

 

[Thumpalumpacus]

In that link, scroll down to "How slow can you go?" for an excellent account of SR-71 flying.

You should check out some of their aviation stickers. I ordered this one:

 

[Admiral Beez]

Some update info on UK procurement of the F-35:

"British F-35 fleet to increase to 74 aircraft by 2033"

Maybe not... I think everyone's been told to step back in the queue.

F-35 Deliveries, on Hold Nearly a Year, Could Resume as Early as July

F-35 deliveries could resume in July if a "truncated" version of the TR-3 software proves user-safe, the Joint Program Office said.

www.airandspaceforces.com

 

[GTX]

F-35B Dons Huge Bat Insignia On Its Back

The Japan-based Joint Strike Fighter has appeared adorned with a spectacular bat motif atop its fuselage.

www.twz.com

 

[ThomasP]

Any one want to take bets on whether the pilot is going around saying "I am Batman" in a deep voice?

 

[GrauGeist]

Any one want to take bets on whether the pilot is going around saying "I am Batman" in a deep voice?

Gotta say it like Michael Keaton, tho.

 

[GreenKnight121]

Any one want to take bets on whether the pilot is going around saying "I am Batman" in a deep voice?

Gotta say it like Michael Keaton, tho.

That F-35B is from VMFA-242... squadron name: "Bats"!

The special paint jobs are reserved for the CO's bird - so it would be "Bat Leader".

I did a 6-month deployment to Iwakuni Japan (6 weeks of which was at NAS Cubi Point, Philippines) from late April to late Oct 1984 with VMA(AW)-242 (as it was known then, operating A-6E Intruders). At that time our official name was "Black Bats".

Here is one of our birds with the despised "awkward landing" bat:

While in "Lackanookie" Japan and Ph we repainted our birds from the scheme above to "Lo-Vis Gray"... and we made a new bat for our logo (although it was no longer black):

The gray bat didn't last long... it was replaced with the logo seen here on one of our F/A-18Ds in the Sandpit (VMFA(AW)-242:

F-35B of VMFA-242 October 2021:

But someone seems to have a fondness for our old logo... VMFA-242 MCAS Iwakuni, Japan - September 2021:

 

[Thumpalumpacus]

Congress is moving closer to taking action to rein in the long-troubled F-35 program, which has failed to meet its promises and is facing new problems with the latest generation.

Two top Democrats on the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) say they are having conversations about an amendment to the annual defense bill that would reduce the number of aircraft purchased by the Air Force for the next fiscal year.

[...]

"Every single member with a piece of [the F-35] is starting to feel the heat for a program that is not only way overbudget, way overschedule, but still hasn't produced the plane that we want," he said. "The pressure is building."

His amendment aims to tackle the latest problems with the F-35 program, specifically Technology Refresh 3 (TR-3), a hardware and software update for the fighter jet's computer system intended for the newest models under a $16.5 billion modernization effort called Block 4.

[...]

Besides the Smith amendment, Congress is openly debating other ways to fix the F-35 program.

At the HASC markup of the NDAA in May, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle expressed grievances with the F-35 program and debated whether to take the drastic step of seizing the intellectual property of the fighter jet from Lockheed.

https://thehill.com/policy/defense/4754671-congress-f-35-program-problems/

 

[Admiral Beez]

Congress is moving closer to taking action to rein in the long-troubled F-35 program… Every single member with a piece of [the F-35] is starting to feel the heat for a program that is not only way overbudget,

Sounds like the grumbles that resulted in a premature shutdown of the F-22 program. Meanwhile production of the F-15, F-16 and F-18 soldiers on. I think the Brits did themselves a disservice designing their Queen Elizabeth class with a reliance on STOVL. Though given the USMCs reliance on the F-35B, perhaps it's too big to fail now.

 

[Thumpalumpacus]

Sounds like the grumbles that resulted in a premature shutdown of the F-22 program. Meanwhile production of the F-15, F-16 and F-18 soldiers on. I think the Brits did themselves a disservice designing their Queen Elizabeth class with a reliance on STOVL. Though given the USMCs reliance on the F-35B, perhaps it's too big to fail now.

The issue is that even at $100m unit cost there's still a big backlog of -35s sitting at Lockheed, that haven't been delivered, awaiting upgrade to Block 4 standards. This is Congress's way of warning Lockheed that if they keep dithering they will start losing money.

Regarding the British carriers, I was looking them over last night and pretty much thought the same thing. I understand that CATOBAR is more expensive, but you end up with a much more versatile ship.

 

[buffnut453]

The original plan for the QEII carriers was that they could be configured either for STOVL or CATOBAR to enable the same vessel to be repurposed if, at some point in the future, a decision was made to stop STOVL and go conventional. That adaptability was axed as a cost-cutting measure.

I do agree, though, that the UK (in reality the RAF/FAA) were overwhelmingly led by former Harrier mates who wanted to keep doing the STOVL thing. Looked at objectively, the F-35C was a much better choice, offering more weapons carrying capacity and longer range. Sadly, the UK didn't opt for it and instead went with the F-35B which lugs around an entirely separate lift engine as dead weight that's only used during take-off and landing.

 

[Admiral Beez]

The original plan for the QEII carriers was that they could be configured either for STOVL or CATOBAR to enable the same vessel to be repurposed if, at some point in the future, a decision was made to stop STOVL and go conventional. That adaptability was axed as a cost-cutting measure.

One could argue that Britain would have been better off with four more Astute class instead of the QE carriers. If things go to hell and war is declared on Russia, it's below the surface where British war fighting expertise can have the most impact. Meanwhile the QEs will quickly be sunk.

 

[SaparotRob]

So the F-35 is now bad again? That was quick. Or the press is just getting bored with Boeing? Inquiring minds want to know.

 

[Thumpalumpacus]

So the F-35 is now bad again? That was quick. Or the press is just getting bored with Boeing? Inquiring minds want to know.

It's not that the F-35 is bad. It's that Lockheed's supply-chain management is bad, and Congress is demanding them to be more responsive. That's fair game to my eyes.

 

[Admiral Beez]

It's not that the F-35 is bad. It's that Lockheed's supply-chain management is bad, and Congress is demanding them to be more responsive. That's fair game to my eyes.

For an aircraft that first flew 17 years ago, the production rate does seem abysmal. Is the F-35 made of unobtanium ?