F-35

This last Wednesday I had the privilege of being invited to watch the F-35 fly its third test flight. The cold pre-dawn sky gave way to a sunrise when a white minivan passed us by. Somebody remarked, "Well, there goes Jon." Jon Beesley is the chief test pilot for the F-35. A few fire trucks passed by and after a feet-numbing hour, there was a roar of engines. Soon, we could see down the flight line that a gray Lockheed Martin F-16 had pulled out. It taxied right in front of us to the end of the runway followed about ten minutes later by a white F-16 with Edwards AFB markings. Chase planes. They disappeared behind a building that hid the end of the runway from our view. About ten minutes after that, the F-35 pulled out of its hanger and taxied by.

It was incredible to see it in person.

It, too, disappeared behind the building and it was another half hour before there was a scream of engines and F-16s tore by and pulled into the air. Circling around, they approached the runway low and slow from where they took off. Then the roar of the F-35s engines spooling up echoed off of the buildings, I noted that a couple of antenna dishes seemed to be trained on the aircraft. After a few moments, the sleek, gray shape of the Lightening II rushed by, it rotated on its main gear and lifted into the air with a slight flutter. Escorted by the chase planes, it continued to climb out from the airstrip. I thought I saw the landing gear retract, but it was too far away to be sure. We couldn't stay and wait for it to land.

Still, it was a worthwhile trip to see what could be the last manned fighter-bomber. UAVs might not be an effective substitute, but one cannot ignore the technological and political advantages of not having to worry about a pilot.

Of interest: The powerplant of the Edwards F-16 had a much higher and louder pitch then the Lockheed Martin test F-16. The F-35's engine sounded lower than either. Both F-16s had flight control surfaces bouncing all over as they taxied, but when the F-35 ran over the same segment of pavement, nothing moved--everything was tight. The pilot also seems to sit much higher in the F-35 (warning huge image!), the impression I got reminded me of an F-117 than the F-16.

Random thought: If this aircraft has the low observable coatings, just how will the Dallas-Ft Worth air controllers be sworn to secrecy? Not sure how that would work out.