F-35A Flutter Envelope Cleared
22 January 2013: Air Force Lt. Col. Brent Reinhardt flew AF-1 to complete full envelope clean wing flutter testing with weapon bay doors opened and closed for the F-35A variant. The final test runs were at 700 knots at low altitude with weapon bay doors opened and closed.
Photo by Tom Reynolds
CF-2 Surpasses 300 Flight Hours
28 January 2013: BAE test pilot Peter Wilson flew F-35C CF-2 beyond 300 flight hours during a test mission that originated from NAS Patuxent River, Maryland.
Photo by Layne Laughter
BF-17 Arrives At Edwards
5 March 2013: Lockheed Martin test pilot Bill Gigliotti delivered F-35B BF-17 to the F-35 Integrated Test Force at Edwards AFB, California, on 5 March 2013. The aircraft is to be used at the ITF for mission systems testing.
Photo by Darin Russell
F-35B Slow Landing With External Stores
23 March 2013: BAE test pilot Peter Wilson performed the first slow landing in an F-35B with external stores. The flight—BF-1 loaded with a centerline gun pod and six wing pylons, including two pylons loaded with AIM-9X missiles—occurred at NAS Patuxent River, Maryland.
Photo by Andy Wolfe
F-35B Weapon Separations
26 March 2013: Navy Lt. Cdr. Michael Burks piloted BF-3 for the first AIM-120 AMRAAM separation test from an F-35B. The flight originated from NAS Patuxent River, Maryland. Two days later, Burks completed the second weapon separation—this time with a 1,000-pound GBU-32. This test was followed the next day with a GBU-12 separation test.
Photo by Layne Laughter
