Originally Posted by Heathrow Harry
"only 8 years since first flight................"
??? Four and a half years according to this:
Originally Posted by Flight Global 9 Jun 2010
...The 55-minute flight on 6 June by CF-1 — the first carrier variant — may seem a minor event in the history of the F-35 program.. But, in the sweep of naval history, CF-1′s airborne debut will be remembered as a “very historic day”, Burbage says.
Designing and flying an aircraft that must takeoff and land from a postage-stamp, moving runway in open water and possibly under attack has never been easy. It was hard enough in the era of straight-wing aircraft powered by turboprop engines. Adding swept-wings and jet engines in the 1950s inserted a new level of complexity.
Last year’s discovery that the F-35C requires a keel redesign to survive repeated carrier landings may indicate the scale of the learning curve, even though the company is no stranger to carrier-based aviation with the S-3 Viking...