F-35 Flight Test Update 12

12 August 2013: F-35B BF-1 and BF-5 land on the USS Wasp (LHD-1) for a second session of shipboard testing called Development Testing II.

13 August 2013: Sqdn. Ldr. Jim Schofield, a Royal Air Force test pilot, became the first international pilot to conduct a sea-based launch and landing in the F-35B.

14 August 2013: Marine Corps test pilot Maj. C. R. Clift completed the first shipboard vertical landing at night for an F-35B. The landing occurred during developmental tests aboard the USS <i>Wasp.</i>

14 August 2013: F-35C CF-5 was flown for the first time with the spin recovery chute in preparation for high angle of attack testing. The initial test flight with the system was flown by Lockheed Martin test pilot Dan Canin from NAS Patuxent River, Maryland.

20 August 2013: Marine Corps test pilot Lt. Col. Patrick Moran completed the first F-35C air-to-air refueling from a drogue-equipped Air Force KC-135 Stratotanker during a flight off eastern Maryland. The flight, which originated at NAS Patuxent River, Maryland, was the 217th flight in the first F-35C carrier variant test aircraft, designated CF-1. All three variants of the F-35 are now qualified to refuel from a KC-135.

28 August 2013: The second session of F-35B shipboard testing on the <i>Wasp</i> called Development Testing II was completed. The testing involved F-35B BF-1 and BF-5.

10 September 2013: BAE test pilot Peter Kosogorin achieved maximum angle of attack when he took F-35C CF-5 to fifty degrees during a test flight from NAS Patuxent River, Maryland.

13 September 2013: Lockheed Martin chief test pilot Al Norman flew F-35C CF-8 to Edwards AFB, California, from Fort Worth, Texas. The aircraft joined eight other F-35A and F-35B aircraft at the Integrated Test Force at Edwards.

30 September 2013: The F-35 Lightning II program surpassed 10,000 flight hours. More than half of the total hours were accumulated since October 2012. This milestone was achieved by operational production aircraft operating from Eglin AFB, Florida; MCAS Yuma, Arizona; and F-35 System Development and Demonstration and Operational Test aircraft operating at Edwards AFB, California; NAS Patuxent River, Maryland; and Nellis AFB, Nevada. Almost half of the total hours were accumulated by production aircraft.

30 September 2013: F-35C CF-3 completed fourteen catapult launches in one month. The testing occurred on the TC-7 steam catapult system at NAS Patuxent River, Maryland.

7 October 2013: Air Force test pilot Lt. Col. Brent Reinhardt was at the controls of F-35A AF-4 for a departure resistance test flight at 20,000 feet—the lowest altitude to date.

21 October 2013: Navy Capt. Justin Carlson performed the first F-35C weapon separation by releasing a GBU-12 from F-35C CF-2. The flight originated from NAS Patuxent River, Maryland.