F-35 Cancelled, then what ?
Ecce Homo! Loquitur...
Hmmm. Ignore the engine problem for the moment, though that might be a bigger issue than a one off failure* - an alarm bell is ringing in the back of my head because of a throw away comment buried in the middle of this article. Looks like the weight saving removal of fire suppression systems might be coming home to roost....
AW&ST: F-35 Issues Complicate Cost-Reduction Rollout
.......The halt in operations comes in response to an engine fire on a U.S. Air Force AF-27, a recently produced F-35, that was preparing for takeoff at Eglin AFB, Florida, on June 23. The pilot safely egressed...... Engineers were working to carefully dismantle AF-27 in order to examine aircraft components that might have started the fire. He [General Bogdan] said. “The aircraft is pretty well burnt because of a fuel tank fire”.........
*Should the F-35 not fly at Farnborough, it would be the second aircraft missing the show due to a Pratt engine problem. The May 29 failure of a commercial PW1500G Geared Turbofan is preventing Bombardier’s CSeries jet from making its air show debut at Farnborough. The aircraft remains grounded pending tests of an unspecified fix for the issue that is related to the low-pressure turbine—coincidentally, the same section at the center of the F-35 problem. More than a month after Pratt said it had made a preliminary determination of the root cause of the CSeries failure, it has yet to provide details publicly.......
AW&ST: F-35 Issues Complicate Cost-Reduction Rollout
.......The halt in operations comes in response to an engine fire on a U.S. Air Force AF-27, a recently produced F-35, that was preparing for takeoff at Eglin AFB, Florida, on June 23. The pilot safely egressed...... Engineers were working to carefully dismantle AF-27 in order to examine aircraft components that might have started the fire. He [General Bogdan] said. “The aircraft is pretty well burnt because of a fuel tank fire”.........
*Should the F-35 not fly at Farnborough, it would be the second aircraft missing the show due to a Pratt engine problem. The May 29 failure of a commercial PW1500G Geared Turbofan is preventing Bombardier’s CSeries jet from making its air show debut at Farnborough. The aircraft remains grounded pending tests of an unspecified fix for the issue that is related to the low-pressure turbine—coincidentally, the same section at the center of the F-35 problem. More than a month after Pratt said it had made a preliminary determination of the root cause of the CSeries failure, it has yet to provide details publicly.......
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TA-4 wing fuel tank fire - both crew eject OK after rear seat camera man stows equipment out of the way for the well rehearsed emergency eject sequence. See video notes.
NEW VIDEO WITHOUT MUSIC NOW HERE:
NEW VIDEO WITHOUT MUSIC NOW HERE:
Last edited by SpazSinbad; 24th Jul 2014 at 01:14. Reason: takin' the S away from HTTPS to make video show
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UPDATE 3-U.S. Navy maintains grounding order for F-35 fighter jets 12 Jul 2014 Andrea Shalal
UPDATE 3-U.S. Navy maintains grounding order for F-35 fighter jets | Reuters
"... there was "no discernible event that represents a root cause."
In the incident on June 23, the Pratt & Whitney engine on an Air Force F-35 A-model jet broke apart and caught fire while a pilot was preparing to take off from a Florida air base....
...It remains unclear what caused the third stage of the Pratt engine to break apart and burst through the top of the airplane. The incident severed a fuel line, which then caused a fire...."
In the incident on June 23, the Pratt & Whitney engine on an Air Force F-35 A-model jet broke apart and caught fire while a pilot was preparing to take off from a Florida air base....
...It remains unclear what caused the third stage of the Pratt engine to break apart and burst through the top of the airplane. The incident severed a fuel line, which then caused a fire...."
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Probably 'objectionable music' caused the previous wing fire TA-4 video to be seen ONLY in some countries so a new NON music video is here:
Last edited by SpazSinbad; 24th Jul 2014 at 01:15. Reason: MAKE HTTPS into HTTP to allow video to show
To quote Cicero, FURCAM INSERTUS QUOD FACTUS EST. or, stick a fork in it, it's done. You're about as likely to see a squadron of TSR.2s over Farnborough as an F-35.
Navair totally put the boot in. They may feel that the only thing worse than a single-engine carrier fighter is a carrier fighter with a single dodgy engine, and if that is the case one can only sympathize.
Navair totally put the boot in. They may feel that the only thing worse than a single-engine carrier fighter is a carrier fighter with a single dodgy engine, and if that is the case one can only sympathize.
Last edited by LowObservable; 12th Jul 2014 at 18:44.
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As F-35 Remains Grounded, Hope Turns to Farnborough 12 Jul 2014 AARON MEHTA
As F-35 Remains Grounded, Hope Turns to Farnborough | Defense News | defensenews.com
"...A source with knowledge of the situation said the travel plan calls for the four F-35Bs to be refueled around 20 times each. The reason: for the first trip across the Atlantic, the service wants to make sure the plane is able to get to land in case of any emergency. The idea is to keep tanks above three-quarters full at all times.
The source added that this is fairly typical of new designs making their first flight across an ocean....
..."This is a deployment," [LM VP] Martin said. "This is the US Marine corps deploying their aircraft overseas, testing spare parts, testing ALIS [the plane's logistics system] remotely, testing their flying profiles and how to do a long duration flight. This has value in it which far outreaches the air show… they're going to learn a lot.""
The source added that this is fairly typical of new designs making their first flight across an ocean....
..."This is a deployment," [LM VP] Martin said. "This is the US Marine corps deploying their aircraft overseas, testing spare parts, testing ALIS [the plane's logistics system] remotely, testing their flying profiles and how to do a long duration flight. This has value in it which far outreaches the air show… they're going to learn a lot.""
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I hope they make it over in time for a public display [or two] as there's a lot of folk wanting to see it.
I also hope they won't be underwhelmed either. Don't forget the ear plugs.
I also hope they won't be underwhelmed either. Don't forget the ear plugs.
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LO: If you search the story title on the Reuters site (as accessed from the US,) you get a dead link, and subsequent stories on the Reuters site note the continued grounding....
"F-35 fighters can resume flight, travel to UK air show -officials"
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSL2N0PM1MC20140712
Other syndicates are still carrying the story.
Those pesky "officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity" can sometime be premature.
"F-35 fighters can resume flight, travel to UK air show -officials"
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSL2N0PM1MC20140712
Other syndicates are still carrying the story.
Those pesky "officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity" can sometime be premature.