F-35 Joint Strike Fighter News, Videos and pics Thread

[Jeff Head]

re: F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Thread

From

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, July 6:

It is going to depend on what stores they have when coming back.

It is not an uncommon thing for any fully loaded aircraft returning to a carrier. Safest to dump any bombs/missiles that could in any way pose a threat to the carrier than to land with them.

So, depending on what stores they return with, and how much, they will either come in vertically, come in rolling, or dump the stores and land normally.

We'll see where this goes, but I do not view this as any kind of show stopper.

 

[FORBIN]

re: F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Thread

The F-35A next delivery will complete staffing Nellis, Eglin then in 2014 Luke and after first base or there will be a combat unit i have read Hill ? IOC announced for the end of 2016.

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[thecheeto]

re: F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Thread

"A majority of Italy's Senate approved the plans to buy F-35 jet fighters in a vote Tuesday but said future purchases should be approved by parliament."

Looks like Italy has approved the purchase of 90 JSF.

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[Jeff Head]

re: F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Thread

As posted by Pointblank in the European Military thread.

The first Italian F-35 in now the jigs, and in the new F-35 assembly facility in Italy to boot:

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Great news, and punctuating the vote by the Italian representatives. Italy is anticipating better costs for itself, and more profits from others as it builds and services F-35s in Europe.

 

[bd popeye]

re: F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Thread

No matter what the pundants post about the F-35 Lightning II the aircraft is being built and delivered to active duty US forces.

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Photo By: Pfc. Victor A. Arriaga
Jul 18,2013
MARINE CORPS AIR STATION CHERRY POINT - Lt. Gen. Robert E. Schmidle Jr., deputy commandant for aviation, addresses Fleet Readiness Center East members during a ceremony for the arrival of the first F-35B Lightning II July 15 at the FRC East hangar. “We now have an aircraft that can do full regional operations all of the time,” said Schmidle.

 

[Air Force Brat]

re: F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Thread

No matter what the pundants post about the F-35 Lightning II the aircraft is being built and delivered to active duty US forces.

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Photo By: Pfc. Victor A. Arriaga
Jul 18,2013
MARINE CORPS AIR STATION CHERRY POINT - Lt. Gen. Robert E. Schmidle Jr., deputy commandant for aviation, addresses Fleet Readiness Center East members during a ceremony for the arrival of the first F-35B Lightning II July 15 at the FRC East hangar. “We now have an aircraft that can do full regional operations all of the time,” said Schmidle.

Nice picture bd, and from this photo we get a better idea of the F-35s size and shape, she's not all that big, much smaller than the F-22 and quite obviously more "draggy" with a fairly rotund cross section, she is after all designed as a strike fighter, not an air superiority aircraft, all quite obvious to the "educated eye"....
However the nose gear doors make it look a little more draggy than it really is, it is a looker though, its starting to grow on me, a lot like the mass profile of the F-8 Crusader, seeing it has pulled 9.9 gs in the Air Force A configuration, it will have a fairly quick instantaneous turn rate, the Marine bird the B is rated to 7Gs, which should be plenty for their mission, which is basically ground support after all! brat

 

[Jeff Head]

re: F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Thread

No matter what the pundants post about the F-35 Lightning II the aircraft is being built and delivered to active duty US forces.

Jul 18,2013
MARINE CORPS AIR STATION CHERRY POINT - Lt. Gen. Robert E. Schmidle Jr., deputy commandant for aviation, addresses Fleet Readiness Center East members during a ceremony for the arrival of the first F-35B Lightning II July 15 at the FRC East hangar. “We now have an aircraft that can do full regional operations all of the time,” said Schmidle.

My numbers may be a little off and behind, but as of now I have the active squardon US Military F-35s consisting of the following:

US AIR FORCE:

Currently the US Air Force is taking delivery of 75 aircraft (some still under construction). Of those, 25 have been assigned to and made a part of active squadrons as follows:

USAF 461 FLTS Squadron: 5 aircraft
USAF 53 FS Squadron: 12 aircraf
USAF 31 TES Squardon: 7 Aircraft
USAF 422 TES Sqaduron: 1 aircraft

US MARINE COPRS:

Currently the US Marine Corps is taking delivery of 28 aircraft. Of those, 20 have been assigned to and made a part of active squadrons as follows:

USMC VM-FAT-501 Squadron: 12 aircraft
USMC VMFA-121 Squadron: 8 aircraft


US NAVY:

Currently the US Navy is taking delivery of 7 aircraft. Of those, 1 has been assigned to and made a part of an active squadron as follows:

USN VFA-101 Squadron

So, in total, 110 aircraft are being delivered to the US Military: Of those 110, 46 are now delivered and a part of active squadrons and that number is growing each week.

 

[bd popeye]

re: F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Thread

This question was asked in the Aircraft Carrier II thread;

Slightly off topic here. Can F-35B take off vertically and make the transition from vertical flight to horizontal flight in the air? I have seen videos of Harrier doing that, but I have yet to see any video on F-35B performing such flight transition.

I think it can..I saw an animation of this but could not find the transformation made during an actual flight.
Well can she transform??

 

[Air Force Brat]

re: F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Thread

This question was asked in the Aircraft Carrier II thread;



I think it can..I saw an animation of this but could not find the transformation made during an actual flight.
Well can she transform??

Of course she can, even the Harrier makes the vertical lift at a very reduced gross weight, Its a STOVL design, meaning that at combat weight she needs a little run, but rest assured she is very powerfull, and that lift fan has given her a capability far beyond the little Harrier, It does take lots of fuel, and it generates lots of heat, the reason the Harrier often lands during a demonstration and cools the nozzles with water. The B will only be a tick behind the A or C when it comes to combat capability, and compared to the Harrier it is a piece of cake to fly, the Harrier factory test pilot stating it takes an octopus to fly a Harrier! cheers brat

 

[stack]

re: F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Thread

Of course she can, even the Harrier makes the vertical lift at a very reduced gross weight, Its a STOVL design, meaning that at combat weight she needs a little run, but rest assured she is very powerfull, and that lift fan has given her a capability far beyond the little Harrier, It does take lots of fuel, and it generates lots of heat, the reason the Harrier often lands during a demonstration and cools the nozzles with water. The B will only be a tick behind the A or C when it comes to combat capability, and compared to the Harrier it is a piece of cake to fly, the Harrier factory test pilot stating it takes an octopus to fly a Harrier! cheers brat

I may be splitting hair here, but IMO there is a different between STOVL and V/STOL and I think the flight control system for F35B is specifically designed for STOVL only, which is probably a logical decision, given that vertical-horizontal take off has no practical value. However I do believe that some pilot/aviator may be able to achieve the feat by overriding the auto system with pure manual control, if they are allowed to.