CrossWind INFO mostly about the Bee on Ships...
... • [F-35B] Crosswind landing testing in the conventional landing mode (not vertical landing) was not completed; but sufficient testing was accomplished to clear landings up to 20 knots of crosswind, short of the ORD requirement of 25 knots of crosswind....”
http://www.defense-aerospace.com/dae...on_on_F-35.pdf
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Navy Sees Few Anomalies in F-35B Ship Trials [DT-I] Oct 31, 2011 Amy Butler | Onboard the USS Wasp
"...Pilots were qualified using the heart of the Harrier wind envelope. During testing they have expanded that up to a 30-kt. headwind, 10-kt. crosswind and 5-kt. tailwind. Pilots report good handling qualities, Cordell says...."
http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/gener...ne=Navy&next=0
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Jumping Jack Flash July 2014 AIR International F-35 Special Ed.
“...Over the course of the 19-day DT-I test period the two [F-35B] jets logged 28 hours flight time & completed 72 short take-offs & 72 vertical landings in conditions of up to 33 knots of wind-over-deck & 10 knots of starboard crosswind.... ...We opened out to 10 knots of crosswind from the right and 15 knots from the left, which is a super envelope.... ...DT II was about crosswind envelope expansion; getting out to 40 knots of headwind; tailwind envelope expansion...
“...As part of the test programme, VX-23 undertook crosswind and tailwind envelope expansion. This included what Peter Wilson described as “some very interesting test points” with the aircraft positioned with a tailwind – which involved tracking the centreline with various bank angles moving backwards at 25 knots or so, “really testing close to the limits of the propulsion system’s capability. So we’ve hit the corners of the envelope going backwards and sideways”. VX-23 also conducted vertical landings with a 15-knot crosswind and with expected hot gas ingestion from the ship’s funnels. “We’ve completed extreme descent rates touching down at 12ft/sec and not exceeded the load limits of the landing gear,” said Wilson. Crosswind testing is an interesting scenario.
There are two ways to achieve the required objective. The pilot can generate crosswind in the hover by turning 90-degrees away from a headwind to generate crosswind from the natural wind and then move sideways over the ground to achieve the required test condition. The wind can be forced to come at any angle to the aircraft. The alternate way is to test when the desired wind speed is available naturally, pedal turning the aircraft until the direction required by the test point is achieved. “DT II was about crosswind envelope expansion; getting out to 40 knots of headwind; tailwind envelope expansion; and the internal carriage of inert weapons during take-offs and landings for the first time,” said Wilson....
...Another aspect of STOVL ops tested during DT II determined the effect of wind coming around the ship’s island. When an aircraft is in the hover, the island is on the right. If the wind comes from the right it makes its way around the island and catches the aircraft from various angles. “That makes the hot gas coming out of the ship’s stack come at you, which is bad news. Aeroplanes don’t like ingesting hot gas: it reduces performance,” said Wilson. “We had mixed results, some good, some bad. With the wind coming from ‘round the back of the island, the aeroplane starts to feel like it’s jostling around. And the effects of the hot gas coming from around the front eroded our performance margin, but not to a point we were concerned because the aircraft has the capability to withstand the effects. We opened out to 10 kts of crosswind from the right & 15 kts from the left, which is a super envelope. It was a great success.”...”
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F-35B Successfully Completes Wet Runway And Crosswind Testing 31 Jul 2014 noodls
"Collectively, the results support clearing the 20 knot cross-wind envelope for Conventional Take Off & Landings (CTOL), Short Take Offs (STO) & Short Landings (SL), with ideal handling quality ratings and meaningful improvement over legacy 4th generational fighter aircraft."
Public · Technologies
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VX-23 2015 STRIKE TEST NEWS Maj M. Andrew “Tac” Tacquard
F-35(B) Short Takeoff & Vertical Landing (STOVL) Mode
“The F-35B team continued to expand the STOVL envelope last year in the clean wing configuration and with symmetric and asymmetric external stores. The process began with flying qualities testing in semi-jet, short takeoff, and jet borne modes to clear the aircraft for takeoff and landings. The team completed testing at airspeeds as low as 70 knots with 24,000 lb of asymmetry and jet borne with 10,000 lb of asymmetry. Next year, the team will feature jet borne testing to 19,000 lb of asymmetry.
Flying qualities during asymmetric testing were nearly identical to symmetric testing from the pilot’s perspective. The team performed Rolling Vertical Landings (RVL), Creeping Vertical Landings (CVL), Vert-ical Landings (VL), Slow Landings (SL), and Short Take Offs (STO) tests with nominal winds at Patuxent River. They continued landing and takeoff testing during a detachment to Edwards AFB, Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, California, and at NAWS China Lake. Testers focused on expanding the crosswind envelope with crosswinds of up to 25 knots. We also performed the 1st high altitude CVL & VL during the detachment...."
http://issuu.com/nawcad_pao/docs/striketest2015_single
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VX-23 Strike Test News 02 Sep 2014
"The F-35B STOVL envelope expansion continued last year. The Rolling Vertical Landing (RVL), Creeping Vertical Landing (CVL), Vertical Landing (VL), Slow Landing (SL), Short Take Off (STO) and Vertical Takeoff (VTO) envelopes were all expanded. RVL testing included main runway testing with some crosswind testing. CVL testing began and was completed on both the main runway and the Expeditionary Airfield (EAF). The VL wind envelope was further expanded, with up to 10 knots of tail wind and 15 knots of crosswind. SL and STO testing included crosswind expansion out to 20 knots, completed primarily at Edwards Air Force Base and NAWS China Lake during a wet runway and crosswind detachment. STOVL formation testing began this year, which included formation STOs and SLs. VTO expansion occurred concurrently with AM2 soft soil pad certification...."
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F-35 Lightning II Flight Test Update 14 Eric Hehs 20 January 2015
22 April 2014: Multiple Crosswind Tests
Lockheed Martin test pilot Dan Levin was at the controls of [F-35B] BF-4 Flight 225 for a day of extensive crosswind testing at NAS Patuxent River, Maryland, that included three short takeoffs, two slow landings, and two conventional landings. Crosswinds for these tests ranged from nineteen to twenty-five knots."
F-35 Lightning II Flight Test Update 14 | Code One Magazine
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F-35(B) Asymmetric Tests Pave Way for DT-3 Sea Trial 13 Jul 2016 Lara Seligman, Tony Osborne & Angus Batey
"...F-35 test pilots have begun testing the aircraft’s ability to carry asymmetric external loads in powered-lift flight. The trials are one of the final hurdles before the aircraft embark on the USS America at the end of October for at-sea developmental testing phase 3 (DT3) – the last of three maritime trials that will give the green light for the Marine Corps F-35Bs to deploy onto amphibious assault ships. The trials will explore the aircraft’s ability to operate safely onto decks with a 1,000-lb. asymmetric load as an external store under one of the wings, but not the other.
“In normal high-speed flight we deal with asymmetric loads by adjusting the flight controls,” says BAE Systems test pilot Pete Wilson, but this is not as straightforward when the aircraft enters the powered lift stage of flight just before recovering onto the deck. Tests have already begun in no-crosswind conditions, and the team are now beginning to test what may occur when stronger crosswinds are introduced. During most carrier landings, ships will point into the wind and the aircraft will be able to recover safely, but at times the ship may be constrained by geography, forcing aircraft to recover with a crosswind component.
The F-35B’s vertical landing crosswind limits is currently 15 kt., although the aircraft can translate at speeds of 20-25 kt. The team want to confirm computer models and prove how the aircraft will operate in such conditions. The issue was rarely a concern for older generations of STOVL, as they did not often bring back such high-tech munitions...."
F-35 Asymmetric Tests Pave Way for DT-3 Sea-Trials | ShowNews content from Aviation Week
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INTEGRATED TEST at PAX James Deboer US NAVY & MARINE CORPS AIR POWER YEARBOOK 2016 Magazine "...We can launch [catapult F-35C] with up to a 15kt crosswind and we can recover with up to a 10kt crosswind’...."
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ALL AT SEA F-35B/F-35C test update SHOWCASE 2016 SYLVIA PIERSON
"...WET RUNWAY, BRAKING VALIDATION AND HIGH CROSSWIND TESTING
ITF testers proved the aircraft can stop safely in extreme weather conditions and validated the aircraft envelope out to a 25-knot crosswind with high asymmetric air-to-ground loadings. Even in a maximum asymmetry configuration (up to 26,000 lb·ft) with weapons stores on one wing, the aircraft performed well – in fact, the high asymmetry and crosswind required little additional attention from the pilot...."
SHOWCASE 2016 AEROSPACE TESTING INTERNATIONAL