Joint Strike Fighter makes belated arrival

Marine pilots eager to put attack aircraft through paces

Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2009

By JAY FRIESS

Staff writer

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Photos courtesy of Lockheed Martin

The first F-35B Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter to arrive at the Patuxent River Naval Air Station approaches the runway Sunday afternoon.

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The remnants of Tropical Storm Ida finally exited Southern Maryland over the weekend, leaving a brilliant blue sky and a clear path for the world's most advanced attack aircraft to arrive at Patuxent River Naval Air Station.

The first test version of the F-35B Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter touched down at Pax River just after 1 p.m. Sunday according to the Navy, beginning what will be an intensive five-year test of the new aircraft.

Lt. Jonathan Pohnel said he was preparing his own plane for takeoff when he saw the JSF arrive, tailed by an F-18 Hornet test plane.

"It was beautiful," Pohnel said, describing the experimental fighter's touchdown on the Pax River runway. "It taxied right past me."

The JSF began its journey Friday, flying from Lockheed's testing facility in Fort Worth, Texas, to Dobbins Air Force Base in Marietta, Ga., for refueling. It remained in Georgia until Sunday, waiting for better weather.

"We overnighted there for a couple of days," said John Kent, spokesman for Lockheed's F-35 program.

The ferry flight to Pax River was successful, but it was overdue. By the military's own estimate, the JSF program is two years behind schedule. Kent said that the Marine Corps will waste no time in putting the aircraft through its paces.

"The plan is to get right into flight testing," Kent said.

Marine spokesman Capt. Craig Thomas said the Corps' pilots are eager to get their hands on the plane, which, until now, has been tested by Lockheed under supervision by the military's JSF Program Office.

"It's very exciting," Thomas said of the JSF's arrival at Pax. He referred to the plane by its testing number, BF-1. "We've got the best pilots down there testing the BF-1, and we're confident they will get the project back on schedule."

This plane is the first of five F-35Bs scheduled for delivery at Pax River. Unlike the Navy's aircraft carrier-based F-35C and the Air Force's F-35A, the Marines' F-35B is a STOVL aircraft, capable of short take-off and vertical landing. It can leap into the air using a ski jump style ramp, hover in midair and land vertically.

Thomas said the plane will first undergo a dozen testing sorties before pilots attempt a vertical landing.

Kent said the test pilots will first fly the plane normally and then progressively test its STOVL capabilities. Pilots will slow the aircraft down, testing its transition between wing-supported flight and thrust-supported STOVL mode using its jet engine and lift fan.

The lift fan, located just behind the plane's cockpit, is what makes the F-35B far more stable and easier to fly than the notoriously difficult Harrier jump jet currently used by the Marines.

"It's pilot-intensive to fly [the Harrier] in STOVL mode," Kent said. However, the JSF's lift fan adds extra thrust, and its computers help the pilot fine-tune the controls. "The airplane flies itself."

The military plans to test the B and C variants of the F-35 until 2014, making the program a significant component of St. Mary's County's economy.

jfriess@somdnews.com

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