The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter performed it's first afterburner takeoff yesterday at a Lockheed Martin facility in Fort Worth, Texas. I'm not sure how newsworthy that is, but it gives me the opportunity to post this picture. According to the report from Flight International,
Over its first seven flights, each lasting around an hour, the F-35 reached Mach 0.8, 23,000ft and 16º angle-of-attack. The aircraft is scheduled to fly twice a week to continue expanding the flight envelope as Lockheed assembles the second JSF - the first short take-off and vertical landing F-35B - which is expected to fly in May-June next year.
Crowley says AA-1 behaved impeccably over its first series of flights. "Every time, it returned Code 1, ready to fly again. That is unheard of for a flight-test article," he says. Test pilot Beesley has said the aircraft has "remarkable flying qualities".
Unfortunately, those remarkable qualities will not include VIFF'ing.
The F-35's "Pratt & Whitney F135 turbofan capable of producing
more than 40,000lb of thrust with full reheat."
