Originally Posted by
Finningley Boy
Is it only the B variant which has been beset with trouble? If so, I wonder if the RAF will feel more compelled to buy 90 F-35As to complete the order and at a cheaper unit cost!
FB
F-35As couldn't operate from QNLZ and PWLS so hardly a starter.
Originally Posted by
Finningley Boy
I've no idea I'm sure you'll be utterly surprised to hear. I simply asked if there was a trend affecting the B and not the other two, it could be a common fault or it could be simple bad luck! That's the extent of my technical knowledge, but you sound like you have far greater insight! Could it be that there is a problem, yet to be determined, affecting the drive shaft for the great rotating dustbin which hoovers up internal capacity and re-shapes the airframe? I don't know.
FB
Over 320 F-35s have been built to date. So far, they have clocked up more than 130,000 flying hours. One F-35B has now crashed.
F-35B is certainly the most complex version but it seems somewhat premature to ask whether a single crash constitutes being
"beset with trouble" or signifies
"a trend", especially as we won't know the cause of the crash until it is reported.
To put the F-35B accident rate in perspective, 337 Harrier AV-8Bs have been built and this is its crash record according to Wikipedia:
Accidents
During its service with the USMC, the Harrier has had an accident rate three times that of the Corps' F/A-18s. As of July 2013, approximately 110 aircraft have been
damaged beyond repair since the type entered service in 1985,
[163] the first accident occurring in March that year.
[164] The AV-8 was dubbed a "
widow maker" by some in the military.
[100] [165] The
Los Angeles Times reported in 2003 that the Harrier family had the highest rate of major accidents among military aircraft in service at that time, with 148 accidents and 45 people killed.
[166] However, Lon Nordeen notes that several other USMC single-engine strike aircraft, like the
A-4 Skyhawk and
A-7 Corsair II, had greater accident rates.
[167]
Accidents have in particular been connected to the proportionate amount of time the aircraft spends taking off and landing, which are the most critical phases in flight.
[100] Further analysis shows that US Marine senior officers never understood the uniqueness of the aircraft, that the Harrier design was more complex, like that of helicopters. Cutbacks in senior maintenance personnel and pilot mistakes had a disastrous effect on the safety of the American-operated AV-8B, which gained it a negative reputation in the US press that was not deserved.
[169]
By all accounts, the F-35B is a comparative doddle to land and take off. I'm just relieved that the pilot of the crashed aircraft appears to be unharmed.