F-35 Lightning II developments

[Melchior Timmers]

Are you sure about 168846?

[Piet Luijken]

Wednesday 4 June another F35 flight: F-35A 11-5038/LF made a local flight as Strike11.

Photoproof on 168846 NJ-110

[tally]

Wednesday 4 June another F35 flight: F-35A 11-3086/LF made a local flight as Strike11.

Hoi Piet,

Must be the jetlag typing. Strike 11 was the 11-5038/LF with F-16C 84-1234 as chase.
Lightning 11-5040/LF taxied out in the afternoon but after 30 minutes taxied back to the runstations because of an odor in the pilots mask.

[Piet Luijken]

yeah jetlag typo serial did not make sense at all, :-(sorry cu next week!

[Melchior Timmers]

Photoproof on 168846 NJ-110

Bummer... That's the first correction for the SMS North America 2014...

[Coati]

By Andrea Shalal

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Canada is poised to buy 65 Lockheed Martin Corp F-35 Joint Strike Fighter jets, sources familiar with the process told Reuters, marking a major renewal of Canada's fighter fleet and helping contain costs of the expensive defense program.A detailed, 18-month review of Canada's fighter jet needs has concluded that the government should skip a new competition and proceed with the C$9 billion ($8.22 billion) purchase, three sources said.The decision still must be finalized by Prime Minister Stephen Harper's cabinet and could trigger a fresh storm of criticism from opposition politicians over costs that derailed the purchase two years ago.A spokesman for Harper's office said there was nothing to announce yet.However, the sources said the recommendation is expected to lead to formal approval of the F-35 purchase. They said Harper and key cabinet members supported the decision.Canada's planned purchase is the 6th-largest by a country and would further safeguard the $399 billion program. Its rising costs had sparked fears of a "death spiral," in which countries cut plane orders, driving up the price of remaining planes and triggering further cancellations.(Reporting by Andrea Shalal



http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSK ... 5?irpc=932

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[Coati]

pretty strange about 168846. The 3 F-35Bs of LRIP-5 should be 168838, 168839, 168840, the 7 F-35C 841-847. Looking to the codes, there are no shifts AFAIK in numbers ordered. That would mean NJ-110 is not CF-17 (first LRIP-6 aircraft), but CF-15, so one of the LRIP-5 aircraft.

[Coati]

Canadian fighter purchase:

CBC News has learned the Conservative government is expected to make a final decision as soon as next Tuesday, followed soon after by an announcement that will put an end to the debate about whether to hold a competition to buy new fighter planes or to renew the $45-billion plan to sole-source the purchase of F-35s.


http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/f-35-pu ... -1.2666758

[Melchior Timmers]

pretty strange about 168846. The 3 F-35Bs of LRIP-5 should be 168838, 168839, 168840, the 7 F-35C 841-847. Looking to the codes, there are no shifts AFAIK in numbers ordered. That would mean NJ-110 is not CF-17 (first LRIP-6 aircraft), but CF-15, so one of the LRIP-5 aircraft.

It was more logic that 168846 (CF-15) will become NJ-108 when looking at the codes only, but logic is not always logic...

[wamovements]

F35 flights:
2 jun F35A 11-5039/LF
3 jun F35A 11-5035/LF and 168846/NJ-110.

[ Post made via Mobile Device ]

Are you sure on 11-5035, according to mine information its first flight was on 26feb14 still in primer. Maybe first flight in full markings?

[Coati]

Piet did not mention it as a first flight, he just logged it as a flight. Indeed it flew earlier in primer.

[Piet Luijken]

But in full colours this second flight!

[ Post made via Mobile Device ]

[Coati]

Images of the RAAF’s first Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II being towed from the production line to the paint facility have been revealed.

The aircraft, dubbed AU-1 and appearing in primer colours, is due to be officially rolled out in July and delivered to the USAF’s Integrated Training Center at Luke AFB in Arizona later this year.

http://australianaviation.com.au/2014/0 ... -revealed/

(pics on link)

Further:

House Panel Approves Massive Pentagon Spending Bill

Specifically, it calls for $5.8 billion next year to buy 38 Lockheed Martin-made F-35 fighters, four more than requested.

(this is for LRIP-9, in which 26 F-35A, 6 F-35B and 2 F-35Cs were requested, report did not specify what type but I suspect it will be for the USAF F-35As)
http://www.defensenews.com/article/2014 ... 306100032/

[Piet Luijken]

F-35 Fighter Jets Temporarily Grounded by Engine Problems
Oil Leak on One Plane Leads to Inspection of 104-Jet Fleet

By DOUG CAMERON
The Pentagon temporarily grounded the entire F-35 Joint Strike Fighter fleet at the start of the weekend after one of the advanced jets suffered an engine oil leak and declared an in-flight emergency.
While the suspension of flight and ground testing on Friday was described by F-35 program officials as a precautionary move, it is the second time in 16 months that engine problems have grounded the entire fleet. It comes just two weeks before the plane is due to make its first international appearance.


Engine maker Pratt Whitney, a unit of United Technologies Corp., said most of the 104-jet fleet had been cleared to resume flying by late Saturday following the safety inspections mandated by the F-35 managers on Friday. The F-35 program office said these revealed potential problems on two more jets.
The incident on June 10 involved an F-35B jet, which can take off and land vertically. The pilot declared an in-flight emergency after being alerted to an engine oil problem, and landed safely back at base at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma in Arizona.
Pentagon officials on Friday ordered engines on all three models of the F-35 to be inspected before they could resume flights.
Pratt Whitney said in a statement that it was working to identify the cause of last week's problem, with jet-by-jet inspections taking around 90 minutes each. Program officials have pointed to problems with an oil-flow-management valve.
The F-35B is one of three variants of the jet built by Lockheed Martin Corp., and scheduled to be the first to be declared combat ready. Program officials last week expressed confidence that it will be ready for the Marine Corps as scheduled in July 2015.
The F-35B is expected to make its international debut on July 4 in a fly-past at the naming ceremony for the British Royal Navy's new aircraft carrier at a dockyard in Scotland. It is also scheduled to perform at two military air shows in the U.K. later in July. A spokesman for the F-35 program office said the jet is still expected to appear at the air shows.

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[AndyMarden]

It was more logic that 168846 (CF-15) will become NJ-108 when looking at the codes only, but logic is not always logic...

Melchior,
Not really. Remember that most USN squadrons do not use modex with the digits 8 and 9. This enables aircraft to use squawks including their modex, particularly useful for carrier operations.
Andy Marden