F-35C Back at Sea for 3rd Round of Carrier Tests Chris Cavas, August 17, 2016
"...And this was only Day Two of nearly three weeks of expected flight operations aboard the George Washington....
...DT III will refine maximum power launches from all four of the carrier’s catapults and work to establish operating parameters with external and asymmetric weapons loading on the aircraft’s wings, along with certifying various systems for landing qualifications and interoperability. Logistics is also a feature of DT III, where an aircraft from VFA-101 will undergo an engine switchout.
VFA-101, with five aircraft, was on board to qualify 12 pilots in deck landings, said squadron commander Capt. James Christie. All the pilots will in turn become instructors, as VFA-101’s mission is to become the training squadron for other F-35C squadrons.
“We’re developing a syllabus,” Christie said, that will be used by pilots as they transition both from training aircraft and older F/A-18s into the 35C....
...As on all carriers, pilots perform the duties of landing signal officer (LSO), watching and grading every landing. One of VFA-101’s LSOs is Lt. Graham Cleveland, who is a veteran of all three F-35C at sea tests.
Both VX-23 and VFA-101 pilots were handling LSO duties aboard the George Washington. “It takes a village,” he said, as the test and evaluation and operational squadron LSOs mingled and shared opinions and expertise.
Like many of the pilots, Cleveland said the F-35C is a bit easier to fly than the F/A-18s – with a caveat. “The 35 is a lot more easier to fly and a lot more difficult to operate,” he said. “Basic flying is easy but mission systems are more complex.”...
...VX-23’s task is detailed and rigorous – even at times tedious – as the squadron’s pilots conduct as many as 500 launch and recovery cycles to establish a wide range of operating parameters. The aircraft’s performance with a variety of weights and loads needs to be established, including how it handles when external weapons are loaded and carried in an uneven fashion....
...test pilots need to check how the plane handles in many configurations, including heavy weapons on one side but not the other, and different types of weapons loaded on each station.
One issue that rose during the aircraft’s development seems to have been solved. There no longer seem to be any significant problems with the tail hook, which in 2012 was revealed to have a number of reliability issues in catching the arresting wire. A redesign of the hook and its installation appears to have been successful. [no kidding]
Maj. Eric Northam of VX-23, the first Marine to fly the F-35C off a carrier, declared there were no problems with the hook. “We’ve had a very successful boarding rate,” he said. “One hundred percent so far.”
The carrier did not need special modifications to operate the F-35C, said commanding officer Capt. Timothy Kuehhas, although there were some software upgrades to some operating systems. About 100 crew members, he said, received handling and launch procedure training in the aircraft at the Navy’s carrier flight systems test site in Lakehurst, New Jersey...."
F-35C Back at Sea for 3rd Round of Carrier Tests | DefenseNews