For 'Milo Minderbinder' earlier "Catch 22" F-35B Runny or VL question:
"I'm still trying to get my head round something. Is it the current belief that the F-35B does or doesn't cause scadding and spalling to conventional runway surfaces? Because if it does cause that, then we won't be able to deploy them overseas, other than on the ships, or a surface prepared in advance. Makes a nonsense of "rapid deployment"."
Lockheed: Many F-35B landings won’t be vertical By Philip Ewing 07 June
2011
Lockheed: Many F-35B landings won
“A Marine Corps photo set this week shows a squadron of veteran AV-8B Harriers at work in Afghanistan supporting troops on the ground, and it brought to mind one of the capabilities the Marines’ F-35B Lightning II will have that the Harrier doesn’t. Everybody knows that the B can “transform,” like a Decepticon, for short takeoffs and vertical landings on Navy amphibious ships at sea. But unlike a Harrier, the B also can land like a conventional airplane, said Lockheed Martin vice president Steve O’Bryan at the company’s big media day last month.
So what, you might say. Well, the Harrier doesn’t land conventionally: Every time it comes back, even to a ground base, it needs to do a vertical landing or a rolling vertical landing, O’Bryan said, burning fuel and working its
jet nozzles more or less the same way.
But if a Lightning II pilot wants to, she’ll be able to land down a runway like a normal fighter jet, without engaging the lift fan or all those other ports & hatches & bells & whistles.
If many — or most — of the flights that a fighter makes over its life are not under operational circumstances, because pilots are training or ferrying their jets, that could mean that a typical B won’t need its vertical landing capability most of the time.
“I don’t want to speak for the Marine Corps, but as we do analysis for the STOVL variant, [we think]
most of the landings will be conventional landings — you can come back and land on a normal 8,000-foot airstrip without stressing all those components,” O’Bryan said. “Of course it’s up to the operational units, but why would I stress those if I don’t have to? ...That is an option that’s not available on the current generation of STOVL airplanes.”
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For 'glad rag' - what is not to like?
F-35 Lightning II Program Status and Fast Facts December 11,
2012
http://f-35.ca/wp-content/uploads/20...er-11-2012.pdf
“
On November 30, BF-1 accomplished the longest duration F-35 hover at 10 mins.
On December 3, BF-1 accomplished its 200th vertical landing at PAX & completed
maximum weight hover, vertical landing & 90 degree translation on Dec 6.
On December 6, BF-4 flew the
1st STOVL mode night ops, including night hover.”
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An Update from Eglin on the Arrival of the F-35 17 Jul
2011
An Update from Eglin on the Arrival of the F-35 | SLDInfo
SLD: As a Harrier pilot, could you comment on the potential arrival of the F-35Bs? | 17 Jul 2011 [at Eglin AFB]
Col. Tomassetti: It is ultimately disappointing constantly to see in the news all of the things that the F-35B hasn’t been able to achieve yet or can’t do & people completely missing what we’ve already achieved.
The fact is that we have a STOVL airplane that every pilot who has flown it says that it’s easy to fly. In 60 years of trying to build jet airplanes and do this, we’ve never ever been there before. We’ve never had a STOVL airplane that was as full spectrum capable as it’s conventional counterparts. We’ve never done that before in 60 years of trying.
It’s an amazing engineering achievement; [what] we’ve already accomplished is completely being missed by some observers.”
An Update from Eglin on the Arrival of the F-35 | SLDInfo [Colonel ‘Art’ Tomassetti [USMC] flew the X-35B on the STO - Supersonic - VL mission a decade ago, 30 July 2001. Now he is vice-commander 33rd Fighter Wing Eglin.
http://www.lockheedmartin.co.uk/news/archive/55.html]