F-35 Flight Test Update 10

20 October 2012: F-35A AF-4 completed the first F-35 spin recovery chute taxi deployment test. Lockheed Martin test pilot David Nelson deployed the twenty-eight foot diameter parachute at a speed of sixty-five knots. Nelson flew the system on the aircraft for the first time four days later to evaluate the effects of the mounting fixture of the spin recovery chute on flying qualities.

25 October 2012: Navy Lt. Chris Tabert flew F-35C CF-3 at NAS Patuxent River, Maryland, for the 1,000th SDD flight for 2012.

26 October 2012: Air Force Maj. Matt Phillips piloted F-35A AF-3 for the first AIM-120 weapon integration flight. The test involved tracking a moving target and simulating launches.

29 October 2012: US government test pilot Vince Caterina flew F-35A AF-4 on its first high angle of attack mission. The aircraft demonstrated acceptable maneuverability at twenty-six and then at thirty degrees angle of attack during this flight. AF-4 was then flown on high-AOA missions five more times on the next five days.  The aircraft achieved a maximum angle of attack of fifty degrees. Flights also included angle of attack conditions of -10, 23, 26, 30, 35, 40, and 45 degrees.

29 October 2012: An AGM-154 Joint Standoff Weapon was fit checked for the first time in the weapon bay of an F-35C. While previous fit checks have been performed on mock-up weapon bays, this test marked the first time a JSOW was installed in an actual F-35. The check was on CF-1 at NAS Patuxent River, Maryland.

7 November 2012: Lockheed Martin test pilot Mark Ward was at the controls of F-35A AF-3 when the aircraft achieved 300 flight hours in a two-hour test mission from Edwards AFB, California.

8 November 2012: Navy test pilot Lt. Chris Tabert ferried F-35B BF-18 from Marietta, Georgia, to the F-35 ITF at NAS Patuxent River, Maryland, after being ferried by Tabert from Fort Worth, Texas, to Marietta on 5 November.

12 November 2012: Lockheed Martin test pilot David Nelson flew F-35A AF-4 to the 50,000-foot altitude design limit during a setup for a test run at 45,000 feet. This flight was the first time an F-35 was flown to its maximum altitude.

15 November 2012: The first weapon pit drop for an F-35C was completed on CF-2 at NAS Patuxent River, Maryland. The weapon was a 2,000-pound GBU-31.

28 November 2012: Pit testing required for Block 2B software was completed for F-35C at NAS Patuxent River, Maryland.

30 November 2012: Lockheed Martin test pilot Bill Gigliotti made the first flight of F-35C CF-5. The aircraft is the final System Design and Development, or SDD, test aircraft.

30 November 2012: BAE test pilot Peter Wilson was at the controls of F-35B BF-1 as it hovered for ten minutes—the longest hover duration of an F-35B to date. The flight occurred at NAS Patuxent River, Maryland.