Todo sobre el F-35 Lightning II

[f.plaza]

Las pruebas sobre el wasp del F35B no fueron tan buenas como pareció.

Here are some issues that I am told the media writers missed:

Apparently, the two F-35Bs involved in the sea trials had been diverted to Patuxent River to be repaired the previous week—presumably for fixes the crew on the Wasp were unable to perform. One of the aircraft flying the displays for the press, BF-4, broke (again) after the media event. The upper lift fan door actuator—a component that was supposed to have been fixed already—apparently had a problem. It turns out the actuator has to be redesigned yet again.
When asked about maintenance on the Wasp, officials speaking on behalf of the F-35 did not say that more maintenance had been taking place than had been planned. It is not clear if that does or does not mean the extra maintenance that took place at Patuxent River.
Despite at least one media writer’s descriptions of impressive landing parameters during the displays, I am informed that the effects of the Wasp’s structure were causing the ship to slow down because the handling qualities resulting from the wind coming around that structure were not what they expected.
The testing was planned for a two week period, but it ran on into a third week. It would be interesting to know if there was anything beyond the extra maintenance that explains this.

There also appear to be some issues with the Air Force’s “A” model:

It appears that the four Lot 2 F-35As at Eglin AFB are effectively grounded. The USAF airworthiness authorities haven’t given the program the flight clearance to start flying the jets. The jets may have been cleared for ferry from the plant in July and August but not for training operations at Eglin.

There has been pressure to clear the aircraft for training operations notwithstanding the following:

The ejection seat and pilot escape system in the jets have not passed the required qualification tests. This is a particularly interesting because one media writer just reported on how the Air Force’s Air Combat Command is considering a change in the manufacturer for the ejection seat, but the explanation is that it is for cost reasons. It is asserted that a change at this late stage would save money, but how is unclear and appears, at least to me, controversial.
There are problems with being able to restart the engine in flight if it flames out.
Braking on a wet runway is deficient—recently improved but not resolved; so jets will be restricted from flying after it rains until the runway dries out.
The airplane in the training configuration has about 70 hours on it. If you count all JSF testing, it is about 1,000 hours. Legacy aircraft training would start with at least twice that much on the fleet, and as much as five times that much in the configuration meant for training.
All of this also applies to the Marines F-35B that is supposed to start flying at Eglin in January.

El enlace completo
http://www.defencetalk.com/issues-emerge-on-f-35b-after-sea-trials-37842/
y para quien lo quiera traducido
http://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?hl=es&ie=UTF8&prev=_t&rurl=translate.google.es&sl=en&tl=es&twu=1&u=http://www.defencetalk.com/issues-emerge-on-f-35b-after-sea-trials-37842/&usg=ALkJrhimNcnVH-HsP1hIGKS8gh3GEv63_g

[RGSS]

Hola,

Aparte de los problemas técnicos que retrasan el programa y lo encarezen, a mí, la verdad, lo que me preocupa más, es lo que díjo el nuevo jefe del estado mayor conjunto hace algo más de un mes. Un par de links.

Joint Chiefs chairman raises concerns about cost of three F-35 models

He told the committee he is “concerned about the three variants,” questioning whether, as annual Defense Department budgets shrink, the military “can afford all three.”
...
“Three variants creates some fiscal challenges for us,” Dempsey said bluntly.
...
Mackenzie Eaglen, a former Senate defense staffer now with the Heritage Foundation. “[Three] variants of one ‘Joint’ Strike Fighter was created to save $$. Now, Dempsey says we basically can't afford it.”
In an email to The Hill, Eaglen predicted one of the program’s three fighter models likely will meet the budgetary ax.

“Gen. Dempsey's tepid endorsement of the [F-35] today bodes very ill for the program's stability,” Eaglen wrote. “His warning that the three variants are unaffordable means the death of one variant is much more likely or the overall buy will be reduced in the 2013 budget — or both.
...

New wave of uncertainty on F-35


Yo ya tengo una velita puesta

Saludos

[Jaldo]

Las pruebas sobre el wasp del F35B no fueron tan buenas como pareció...

A pesar de los problemitas que tuvieron,no creo que les fue tan mal (72 despegues y aterrizajes en 18 dias)

F-35B completes first shipboard tests
The US Navy (USN) amphibious assault ship USS Wasp has completed an initial embarked sea trials period with the US Marine Corps' (USMC) F-35B short take-off vertical-landing (STOVL) variant of the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter (JSF). Beginning on 3 October, two F-35B test aircraft - BF-2 and BF-4 - undertook an 18-day Development Test (DT-1) period, cumulatively completing 72 short take-offs, 72 vertical landings and more than 28 hours of flight time

Fuente: Janes.com

[Mauricio]

Del evento con pilotos de P-38 en Edwards el pasado 03-Oct, una foto para empezar el día:

[J.MOVADO]

Bueno, Canada no se mete con nadie, pero tuvimos una refriega con el fletán, en el que enviamos algún buque militar, que no de combate...

Porque recordemos que ambos estamos en la OTAN

[Vanguardia]

Que manía tenéis con Canadá.

Bueno, Canada no se mete con nadie, pero tuvimos una refriega con el fletán, en el que enviamos algún buque militar, que no de combate...

Porque recordemos que ambos estamos en la OTAN

Canadá pertenece al mando de defensa aérea de américa del norte,junto a Estados Unidos.

[RGSS]

New cracks stop vertical landings on some F-35Bs

Three of the five developmental Lockheed Martin F-35Bs have developed tiny cracks in a lift fan-related component which prevent the flight-test aircraft from reconfiguring in flight and landing vertically.

Two flight-test aircraft - BF-1 and BF-2 - are now being modified with a redesigned actuator support beam, according to the joint programme office.

BF-4 has also developed "hairline" cracks in the same part, but is continuing to fly in conventional mode only until the part is modified, the programme said.

The potential for cracks to develop in the actuator support beam was identified several years ago. A redesigned beam was installed on the fifth short take-off and vertical landing (STOVL) test aircraft during final assembly, the programme said. That means the BF-5 test aircraft can continue to make vertical landings as part of the flight-test programme.

The only remaining test aircraft - BF-3 - has accumulated fewer flight hours. No cracks have yet been found. BF-3 is not technically restricted from completing vertical landings, but has only flown in conventional mode since the cracking problem was discovered.

Saludos

[eltopo]

pues ayer pude ver en las noticias que tanto el ministro de defensa de canda como el de los estados unidos fueron muy claros en que ambas naciones apuestan al f-35 y que lo demas es puro rumor

[RGSS]

Cláro que se sige apostando por el JSF!!, lo que nos faltaba.., que se cancele por completo a estas alturas...

Saludos

[Vanguardia]

Fracaso,malo,que se iba a cancelar...

Lockheed Hits 2011 F-35 Test Targets Early

Lockheed Martin has passed its 2011 flight-test targets for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, with aircraft now flying at a pace that, if maintained, will allow the company to exceed its target for a significantly higher number of flights in 2012.

The test program completed its 875th flight for the year on Nov. 17, passing the full-year target of 872. A total of 6,809 test points were accumulated on those flights, exceeding the year-end target of 6,622, says J.D. McFarlan, Lockheed vice president for F-35 test and verification.

The 2011 target was passed early despite testing being halted twice: once briefly in March after an inflight dual generator failure, and for two weeks in August after a failure of the aircraft’s integrated power package during ground runs.

Flying of some F-35B short-takeoff-and-landing test aircraft has again been halted, this time to replace structural beams in the lift-fan bay that have developed small cracks. The beams support actuators for the upper and lower lift-fan doors.

McFarlan says the actuator supports were identified as “hot spots” during structural testing, and Stovl (short takeofff and vertical landing) aircraft from test jet BF-5 onward have redesigned beams and are not affected.

Aircraft BF-1 has been fitted with the redesigned support beams and is planned to return to flight at NAS Patuxent River, Md., in December. BF-2 will be modified during scheduled down time, he says.

BF-3 has done less Stovl testing and has not yet developed cracks. It will be modified, as will BF-4, which for now is being used for up-and-away flight testing. “BF-3 and -5 are available to do Stovl work, so this is not holding us up,” McFarlan says.

In January, the F-35 test program was replanned and extended by two years to provide additional margin for discoveries and to refly test points. “Flying rates in the new plan were supposed to accommodate such findings, and we are happy with its ability to do so,” he says.

Since flying resumed in mid-August, the F-35 test fleet has been averaging 100 flights a month. “That is slightly higher than the pace we need in 2012,” McFarlan says. Around 1,100 test flights are planned for next year.

Although Lockheed has exceeded its full-year target for test points, they are not quite in the order planned. “We have about 500 more in the CV [F-35C carrier variant] bucket than the plan and about 100 more of CTOL [conventional-takeoff-and-landing F-35A] and Stovl to accomplish.”

A major objective of flight testing in 2011 was to deliver data to clear the initial envelope for flight training. “We have done that, and delivered several updates to that envelope,” McFarlan says. Training on the F-35A at Eglin AFB, Fla., has yet to begin.

http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/generic/ ... ts%20Early

[Mauricio]

Señoras y señores, un par de fotitos muy especiales. Son del Lunes 20-Nov-2011 pasado, tomadas en la planta de Lockheed Martin en Fort Worth, Texas. Muestran a F-35 BK-01 saliendo de la línea de ensamblaje tras ser completado. BK-01 es el primer F-35 de exportación, destinado a las Fuerzas Armadas del Reino Unido.

Aquí lo tienen - el caza Europeo de 5º Gen.:

[Coronas]

Magnifico video del F-35B despegando y aterrizando desde el USS Wasp.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pl ... i86x1WKPmE

[vet327]

Confian tanto en el gordito "B" que se han comprado todos los Harriers dados de baja por la Royal Navy

[Vanguardia]

Confian tanto en el gordito "B" que se han comprado todos los Harriers dados de baja por la Royal Navy

Como repuestos.

[vet327]

Confian tanto en el gordito "B" que se han comprado todos los Harriers dados de baja por la Royal Navy

Como repuestos.

como lo que sea, que no se fian y quieren asegurar la operatibilidad de sus Harriers.