Is it just me, or does it look at bit - well - flat?

Mog

I thought the same thing, hard to tell the way it's wrapped. Perhaps it's the lack of the cockpit canopy which makes the forward fuselage look less 'portly' than usual.

You sure it’s not inverted as the wing appears to have a bit of anhedral, as per the UK’s, though the gear is oddly stowed, but it appears to also have the engine bulge in the aft fuselage.


https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....6aa30aa3a.jpeg

I think the gear was well and truly Donald Ducked Nutty!

F-35 JPO Evaluating Spare Parts Following Vinson, Queen Elizabeth Deployments 09 Mar 2022
https://news.usni.org/2022/03/09/f-3...th-deployments
...Asked about the January F-35C ramp strike aboard Vinson, Fick said he’s not aware of any fleetwide notifications needed as a result of that mishap nor the F-35B one aboard Queen Elizabeth in November. “No one has brought to me anything requiring a fleetwide notification associated with either the F-35C nor the B mishap that you’re all probably tracking from the Queen Elizabeth as well,” Fick said. “Nothing that I have seen thus far. We continue to support the investigations in those cases and if anything comes of it that requires that fleet notification, I will absolutely do that.”

09 Mar 2022 PICASSO F-35C VFA-147 Relay Point on Twitter: https://t.co/WcX8CzFdfT

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As one does scrolling through the mountains of info available in the BIG PDF I came across this perhaps overlooked item.
Semper Lightning: F-35 Flight Control System Part 1 09 Dec 2015 Dan “Dog” Canin
Source: Semper Lightning: F-35 Flight Control System | Code One Magazine
“...the CV airplane has three different approach modes, easily selected using buttons on the stick and throttle. Two of these modes – APC and DFP – are auto-throttle modes, indicated by a three-letter label on the left side of the HUD. The third mode – manual throttle – is indicated by the absence of a label… arguably not the most compelling indication that you’re responsible for the throttle. This interface will probably evolve; in the meantime, we need to be disciplined and to make doubly sure we’ve got APC engaged be-fore we turn throttle control over to George....

...APC is “approach power compensation” mode, in which the throttle is automatically control-led to maintain the desired AOA during approach. In the C-model, engagement of APC also increases the gain on IDLC (integrated direct lift control), which schedules the flaps in response to stick movements to give very high-gain glideslope response. Another approach mode, DFP (delta flight path), currently in the C-model only, changes the pitch axis CLAW from a pitch-rate system to a glideslope-command system. DFP improves glideslope tracking performance & significantly reduces workload during carrier approaches....”

Ground Controlled Approach (GCA) the forerunner to a Pilot Precision Approach - SQNLDR Jim Males AM RAAF (Rtd) 2022
https://issuu.com/slipstream2/docs/slipstream_mar_2022
"...HMAS Melbourne had a ship-based version, SPN-35, [installed during the refit to enable A4Gs & S2s ops c.1967] and many old RAN controllers will fondly remember conducting a 'carrier-controlled approach' (CCA in lieu of GCA). The SPN-35 was similar to the FPN-36 but had a gyro stabilised antenna group because of ship motion. Talk down commenced as the ship was turning into wind, the final heading for aircraft recovery. It was not uncommon for naval aviators to be given large heading corrections with the ship turning up to 90 degrees to port or starboard; "commence descent and turn left 40 deg” etc. The philosophy was that we were training for war and aircraft were more expendable than the carrier so the ship spent minimal time vulnerable while tracking into wind...."
___________________

“...Upon her return to Sydney [22 Nov 1967], Melbourne commenced preparations for a major refit and modernisation, conducted at Garden Island Dockyard, to enable her to operate her new aircraft. She remained alongside in Sydney until February 1969. The refit included a communications upgrade and a new radar suite, consisting of both Dutch and American radars. The British Type 293 surface search set was retained and an LW-02 air-surveillance radar was installed over the bridge. Abaft the funnel, an SPN-35 carrier-controlled approach radar was mounted within a dome, and on the lattice mast a new tactical air navigation (TACAN) aerial and electronic countermeasures (ECM) pods were mounted....” https://www.navy.gov.au/hmas-melbourne-ii

As the world turns so does stuff turn up: https://www.faaaa.asn.au/mystery-photo-no-47-answer/ "...The device circled in yellow is a Sea Venom nose (complete with radar) on the rear of the island just below the big radar aerial. It was there to perform as an SCA (Ship Controlled Approach) radar for the returning Venoms and Gannets.... On board ship, the lock-on and the general search modes were not stabilised, so the pitch and roll of the ship made the adoption of a glide slope very difficult. The device only appears in photographs between 1959 and 1963 or thereabouts, and may therefore have been installed during Melbourne’s August 1959 refit at Garden Island.... MAX SPEEDY" - PDF attached says more about RN initial invention c.1957

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https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....2aaa3fa1aa.jpg

F-35C GRR ARGH RAMP STRIKE VINSON VFA-147 'Argonauts' 24 Jan 2022

Not sure if this tidbit posted already, I've sure hinted at it "JPALS not for day DLs in good weather".
"A Message from Lorraine Martin 20 Aug 2015 Lorraine Martin LM P R “...Back in the states, CF-3 at Pax River completed the first Joint Precision Approach and Landing System (JPALS) approaches with an F-35. This mission is an important part of the shore-based workups the Pax ITF team is required to accomplish in preparation for the upcoming F-35C ship trials this fall. JPALS will primarily be used by pilots during night time and poor weather ship board landing operations....” https://www.f35.com/assets/uploads/d...te_8-20-15.pdf