The first STOVL F-35B arrived at the US Navy's Patuxent River test center in Maryland on Sunday Nov. 15 after a two-stage ferry flight via Lockheed Martin's Marietta, Georgia, plant.
BF-1 over Pax (Photo: Lockheed Martin)
Aircraft BF-1 left Fort Worth, Texas, for Pax on Nov. 14, the same day that the first production-representative CTOL F-35A made its first flight. Aircraft AF-1 is the fourth F-35 to fly.
AF-1 takes off (Photo: Lockheed Martin)
BF-1 arrived at Pax with all airborne STOVL testing still to do. Lockheed estimates it will take 30 days, flying progressively slower and lower, to get to the first vertical landing.
BF-1 lands at Pax (Photo: Lockheed Martin)
December promises to be an eventful month. First flights for the Airbus A400M and Boeing 787 and a vertical landing for the F-35. Of course, there remains a remote possibility that pigs might fly first.
Will the aircraft be grounded there again for "planned" upgrades or can they now indeed go ahead with flight testing. 30 days should make it feasible to have that first vertical landing this year. When is BF-2 due at Pax and when are the other prototypes due to fly?
Great photos LM. Lets hope for sustained progress.
http://www.codeonemagazine.com/archives/2009/articles/jul_09/f-35b_hover/index.html
Just scroll down!