At the risk of being boring heheh... Here is some more old THERMIONIC news & cool environment hoohaa.
Marine Corps demonstrates F-35B at sea 18 Oct 2011 Dave Majumdar
Marine Corps demonstrates F-35B at sea - Marine Corps News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Marine Corps Times
"...The team started off the flights by using the flight envelop cleared for the AV-8B Harrier as a starting point before expanding into new territory, Cordell said. From that initial envelope, the testers expanded it up to 30 knots of headwind and down to 10 knots of headwind. They also flew the jet with a 15-degree crosswind....
...Cordell [Col. Roger Cordell, naval F-35 test director] said that one piece of good news is that the “outflow” from the jet’s exhaust while hovering is less intense than expected. “It’s counterintuitive, but the jet has a less harsh environment hovering at 40 feet than it does at 100 feet,” he said. Engineering models had predicted the outcome, but skeptics — Cordell included — had doubted those conclusions.
The hazard zone around the jet therefore has shrunk to about the same size as that of a Harrier, he said.
Similarly, the “outwash” on take-off is far less harsh than anticipated, Cordell said....
...NAVSEA also used the F-35B trials onboard the Wasp to evaluate some non-skid material on one of the deck spots on the giant vessel, Kalnajs said. The new material [THERMION] was tested on a 90 square foot spot, said Navy Capt. Brenda Holdener, commander of the Wasp.
The rest of the flight deck is covered in standard material, however parts of it look different because it is newer, she said. Observers had questioned why portions of the Wasp’s flight deck had a different hue than other parts of the deck surface.
Non-skid materials have and continue to be a vexing problem for the Navy, breaking down after only six or seven months, Kalnajs said. He said the Navy hopes the newer material being evaluated will last for years at a time...."