Programs

F-35 Lightning II Shipboard Testing: Phase 2

By Andy Wolfe Posted 18 October 2013

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F-35 BF-1 and BF-5 arrived aboard the USS Wasp on 12 August 2013 just after the ship departed its homeport in Norfolk, Virginia.

The second phase of sea trial testing included the first night vertical landing at sea. The mission was flown by Marine Corps Lt. Col. C.R. Clift in BF-5.

Night operations aboard the Wasp included completing a total of nineteen short takeoffs and vertical landings between the two test aircraft.

The test team prepares BF-1 and BF-5 on the aft deck for a series of night tests. The USS Wasp sailed off the coast of Virginia for the majority of the testing.

The fuelers aboard the Wasp, identifiable by their purple shirts, worked diligently to ensure the jets flew with the proper fuel loads for each mission. Some test points required specific weights and centers of gravity, which were controlled by fuel quantities.

The Landing Signal Officer, or LSO, and the air officer, called the Air Boss, viewed every short takeoff and vertical landing from PriFly, short for primary flight controls, which is the nerve center for air operations aboard an LHD. Cdr. Edmund Swearingen watched closely as BAE test pilot Peter Wilson came in to a hover to complete a vertical landing on Spot 7.

The LSO watched closely as Marine Capt. Michael Kingen prepared for a short takeoff in BF-5.

Air Test and Evaluation Squadron 23 (VX-23) is NAVAIR's largest flight test organization. The squadron's mission is to support the testing of fixed wing tactical aircraft by providing aircraft and pilot assets, maintenance services, safety oversight and facility support for these efforts. The distinctive VX-23 paint scheme was applied to BF-5 along with DT-II logos on the inside of each tail for the sea trials. VX-23 is the home squadron for the government test pilots who operate the F-35B and F-35C flight test aircraft.

The allowable envelope to complete short takeoffs and vertical landings was significantly expanded during the sea trials as illustrated in this vertical landing facing the stern of the ship.

Operating both jets during the same fly period was the norm for the deployment, illustrated here with the pilot of BF-1 hovering while the pilot of BF-5 flies the pattern preparing to complete a vertical landing at the same time. Every test during DT-II began with a short takeoff and ended with a vertical landing, both being repeated several times per aircraft during a particular flying period.

The MH-60 Seahawk helicopter crews were never very far away during operations on the Wasp. Though never used during the sea trials, the MH-60 crews of HSC-28 were always ready to provide search and rescue support during F-35B operations on the ship.

Dual aircraft operations represented a major difference between the first and second sea trials for the F-35B. Maintenance teams worked diligently to ensure both aircraft were ready to operate within two prescribed test windows each day.

Test participants came from NAVSEA, NAVAIR, Lockheed Martin, BAE Systems, Pratt & Whitney, and several other organizations. The ITF team worked with nearly 1,000 Sailors aboard the Wasp.

The maintenance teams supporting BF-1 and BF-5 during the sea trials kept the Lightning IIs operating to ensure test objectives were met during the short time aboard the Wasp. Their efforts resulted in a fly rate that was significantly higher than the first sea trials as thirty percent more short takeoffs and vertical landings were accomplished in a shorter underway period.

RAF Sqdn. Ldr. Jim Schofield takes off from the deck of USS Wasp one last time before making the flight back to the NAS Patuxent River, Maryland, home for BF-1. The bow waver ensures the deck is clear and signals the launch officer, or shooter, during the short takeoff.

More than 200 members of the F-35 Integrated Test Force from the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division at NAS Patuxent River, Maryland, deployed to the amphibious assault ship USS Wasp (LHD-1) in August 2013 for the second phase of developmental test sea trials, called DT-II, for the short takeoff/vertical landing variant of the Lightning II, the F-35B. The team deployed with two test F-35Bs, BF-1 and BF-5, for almost three weeks off the East Coast of the United States. Test participants came from Naval Sea Systems Command, or NAVSEA; Naval Air Systems Command, or NAVAIR; Lockheed Martin; BAE Systems; Pratt & Whitney; and several other organizations. The ITF team worked with nearly 1,000 Sailors aboard the Wasp.

The flight tests at sea were critical to clearing the flight envelope to support the Initial Operational Capability trials for the US Marines scheduled for 2015. During the deployment, four F-35B test pilots combined to fly almost 100 short takeoffs and vertical landings between the two aircraft. The flights were made in a variety of conditions that included day and night operations as well as unique crosswind, tailwind, and other dynamic wind-over-deck conditions. The trials expanded the F-35B flight envelope to include internal weapons carriage in a variety of configurations at varying weights and centers of gravity, as well as asymmetric loadings of stores in the aircraft internal weapon bays.

The sea trials also included logistics test and evaluation test points, such as assessing the ease of towing the aircraft in the constrained spaces below deck as well as testing a variety of chaining configurations for the aircraft on deck.

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