F-35 Pilot Roster

Lockheed Martin test pilot Mark Ward became the seventeenth pilot to fly the F-35 when he took off from Edwards AFB, California. The 1.6-hour mission, on 10 February 2011, included testing flying qualities, engine transients, and multiple landings.

US Navy Lt. Cmdr. Eric Buus completed his first flight in an F-35 and became the first active duty US Naval Aviator to fly the aircraft. Buus piloted the seventy-seventh flight of F-35B BF-3. The 1.2-hour flight from NAS Patuxent River, Maryland, included flying quality and propulsion transient tests. Buus is the sixteenth pilot to fly the F-35.

BAE test pilot Peter Wilson became the fifteenth pilot to fly the F-35 when he took off from NAS Patuxent River, Maryland, in F-35B BF-3 for a 1.1-hour test mission on 15 November 2010.

USAF Lt. Col. Scott McLaren became the fourteenth pilot to fly the F-35 when he took off from Edwards AFB, California, in F-35A AF-2 a 1.8-hour test flight on 16 August 2010.

USMC Lt. Col. Matt Taylor became the thirteenth pilot to fly the F-35 when he took off from NAS Patuxent River Maryland in F-35B BF-2 for a one-hour test flight on 13 July 2010.

USAF Maj. Matt Hayden became the twelfth pilot to fly the F-35 when he took off from Edwards AFB, California, in F-35A AF-1 for a 1.7-hour test mission on 26 May 2010.

Lockheed Martin test pilot Bill Gigliotti became the eleventh pilot to fly the F-35 on 23 April 2010. Gigliotti took off from NAS Fort Worth JRB in F-35A AF-1 minutes after Lt. Col. Hank Griffiths took off from the same runway.

Lt. Col. Hank Griffiths, the director of the F-35 Integrated Test Force at Edwards AFB, California, completed his first flight in the F-35. Griffiths performed several test points on the 1.6-hour flight in AF-2 from Fort Worth.

USMC Lt. Col. Matt Kelly became the ninth pilot to fly the F-35 when he took off from NAS Patuxent River Maryland in F-35B BF-3 for a 1.1-hour test flight on 23 March 2010.

USMC Lt. Col. Fred Schenk became the eighth pilot to fly the F-35 when he took off from NAS Patuxent River Maryland in F-35B BF-3 for a one-hour test flight on 20 February 2010.

Royal Air Force Squadron Leader Steve Long became the first active duty service pilot from the United Kingdom to fly the F-35 Lightning II. He flew BF-2 for a 1.3-hour mission from NAS Patuxent River, Maryland, on 26 January 2010.

Lockheed Martin test pilot David Nelson completes his first flight in the F-35. Nelson flew AA-1 from NAS Fort Worth JRB on 31 March 2009, becoming the sixth pilot to fly the Lightning II. The 1.2-hour mission marked Flight 77 for AA-1.