F-35B/C Lightning II (Joint Strike Fighter)

[Treetop Flyer]

Dump valve for the unnecessary air from the APU when it's running and NOT trying to start the engine. Good chance my choice of words is completely wrong.

It is just APU exhaust. Fuel dump is from the underside of the wing.

 

[NightVisionPen]

Does the F-35 have the ability to jettison the canopy?

 

[MIDNJAC]

Does the F-35 have the ability to jettison the canopy?

Like a Boomerang

 

[Fog]

According to a just-released Pentagon survey, the F-35A has a combat radius shortfall - depending on how you define it - of anywhere from a few miles to about 15% of its originally promised range. I'm old & un-techie, but you can find this Reuters news release by going to the [business] "markets" tab on Yahoo and then entering "BA" - to get Boeing-related news. I think we'll all see a world of pain & gnashing of teeth before this plane ever reaches the inventories of the AF, Navy or Marines. FWIW.

 

[fattestfoot]

Here's the link to that article: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011...eedType=RSS&feedName=industrialsSector&rpc=43

 

[jackjack]

the 2009 SAR report had the combat radius of the f35a at 610nm, the 2010 SAR has it at 587nm
the KPP is 590nm for the f-35a
the f-35 B&C both exceed their KPP

http://www.fas.org/man/eprint/F-35-SAR.pdf

 

[Treetop Flyer]

From the article: "Another competitor is the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet built by Boeing Co (BA.N), which lists a combat radius of 500-plus nautical miles carrying three 480-gallon external tanks and four 1,000-pound bombs"

 

[Alpha_Echo_606]

110516-N-YY999-002 PATUXENT RIVER, Md. (May 16, 2011) The second F-35C test aircraft (CF-2) arrives at Naval Air Station Patuxent River May 16. CF-2 is the designated loads test aircraft, which will expand the flight envelope for maneuvering. The F-35C is the carrier variant of the Joint Strike Fighter undergoing test and evaluation in preparation for delivery to the fleet. (U.S. Navy photo courtesy of Lockheed Martin/Released)

 

[yak52driver]

Looks like the F-35 made its first air show appearance:

http://www.andrews.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123256906

 

[HeyJoe]

ANDREWS AIR FORCE BASE, Md. -- An F-35C piloted by Lt. Cmdr. Eric "Magic" Buus made a single pass down the show line at the Joint Service Open House at Andrews Air Force Base, Md., May 21, marking the first public appearance of a joint strike fighter aircraft at an air show. The F-35C is the carrier variant of the Joint Strike Fighter, a fifth generation strike fighter with stealth capability. The F-35C has larger wing surfaces and reinforced landing gear for the demanding carrier environment and is undergoing test and evaluation at Naval Air Station Patuxent River prior to eventual delivery to the fleet. (US Navy Photo courtesy of Lockheed Martin)

 

[Alpha_Echo_606]

F-35B Lightning II Short Take Off/Vertical Landing (STOVL)
FORT WORTH, Texas, July 18, 2011 - The fifth Lockheed Martin F-35B
Lightning II Short Take Off/Vertical Landing (STOVL) flight test aircraft
delivered to the Marine Corps arrives at Naval Air Station (NAS) Patuxent
River, Md., Saturday, July 16. Lockheed Martin test pilot Bill Gigliotti
flew the short takeoff/vertical landing aircraft, designated BF-5, for the
3.5-hour flight from NAS Fort Worth Joint Reserve Base. BF-5 is the seventh F-35 delivered in 2011 and the third aircraft delivered to NAS Patuxent River this year. (Lockheed Martin photo by Liz Kaszynski)

 

[Flying Toaster]

Testing the blast deflector-

First F-35C cat launch-

 

[livefreediehard]

Any word on trap tests yet?

 

[Bobola2005]

I will preface this by saying I probably don't know what I am talking about and my flight experience is limited to about 50ish hours in a Cessna 172SP. While I think the F-35 is very sexy, it seems to me like this jet doesn't have any rearward visibility. Is that not supposed to be that big of a deal in a multirole fighter?

 

[millsra13]

I will preface this by saying I probably don't know what I am talking about and my flight experience is limited to about 50ish hours in a Cessna 172SP. While I think the F-35 is very sexy, it seems to me like this jet doesn't have any rearward visibility. Is that not supposed to be that big of a deal in a multirole fighter?

The word on the street is that they installed the beeping parking sensors and a backup camera in the HUD to keep an eye on your 6...but that is probably just scuttlebutt.