F-35 Program - General Discussion

John Fedup said:

Like I said before, China seems to be much better stealing stuff than Russia ever was, at least from a cyber point of view.

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actually, the ones who were considered to be the best of breed were the Stasi. They stole capability based on shopping lists provided to them by various warpac members, 1st priority was for russia, then east germany and then at govt direction to allies,

The post cold war analysis showed that they had stolen an extraordinary amount of intellectual material but were never able to maximise the full benefit as they didn't understand some of the core technology issues. They ended up being caught in this cycle of stealing material but being unable to convert it into actual benefit

the east germans had managed to infiltrate people into the west german govt and major industrial well before the wall went up - and they basically had a constant stream of material right up until the collapse

So an F-35B had a major oil leak in flight a on the 10th, according to the likes of Soloman it was "ground breaking" and "earth shattering" of a program already in deep trouble.

Well, turns out that on friday (13th) an order went out to check all the aircraft, it took 90 minutes to inspect each aircraft and by the end of the weekend nearly all aircraft were checked and 3 faulty values were found in Yuma.

Flight ops resumed today.

U.S. orders mandatory inspections for F-35s after engine issue | Reuters

They found a problem, identified the source, checked every production aircraft and only found 3 faulty, replaced the faulty units and continued with flight operations.

Seems like the mature way to conduct a fighter development program IMO.

RobWilliams said:

So an F-35B had a major oil leak in flight a on the 10th, according to the likes of Soloman it was "ground breaking" and "earth shattering" of a program already in deep trouble.

Well, turns out that on friday (13th) an order went out to check all the aircraft, it took 90 minutes to inspect each aircraft and by the end of the weekend nearly all aircraft were checked and 3 faulty values were found in Yuma.

Flight ops resumed today.

U.S. orders mandatory inspections for F-35s after engine issue | Reuters

They found a problem, identified the source, checked every production aircraft and only found 3 faulty, replaced the faulty units and continued with flight operations.

Seems like the mature way to conduct a fighter development program IMO.

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Yeah! Isn't it obvious? A minor leak that occurred on only 3 jets out of a fleet of more than 100 and was discovered with only 90 minutes enquiry? THAT is major.

A huge engine fire that nearly destroys an airframe, grounds it indefinitely and puts a significant part of the entire test fleet out of action? No problem at all. Just a minor servicing issue...

That goose is becoming more like Comical Ali every day. I see he is back to threatening people with his amazeballs internet fighting skills too.

What a joke.

ADMk2 said:

Yeah! Isn't it obvious? A minor leak that occurred on only 3 jets out of a fleet of more than 100 and was discovered with only 90 minutes enquiry? THAT is major.

A huge engine fire that nearly destroys an airframe, grounds it indefinitely and puts a significant part of the entire test fleet out of action? No problem at all. Just a minor servicing issue...

That goose is becoming more like Comical Ali every day. I see he is back to threatening people with his amazeballs internet fighting skills too.

What a joke.

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Am I missing something, what engine fire? I guess a fire could have resulted eventually. This says more about P&W's QA than anything else. Why are you using a vendor that is supplying a basic part (valve) that has a 3% defect rate! Was it made in China or what?

John Fedup said:

Am I missing something, what engine fire? I guess a fire could have resulted eventually. This says more about P&W's QA than anything else. Why are you using a vendor that is supplying a basic part (valve) that has a 3% defect rate! Was it made in China or what?

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He was making a reference to the PAK-FA fire and the fact that commentators regard it as a minor hiccup, just typical trash reporting

Yes F-35 bad and weak, everything from Russia and China good and strong.

LM have posted a video titled..."F-35 Family of Aircraft"

Well worth a look at for those interested

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUZ6SMmTKns

the road runner said:

LM have posted a video titled..."F-35 Family of Aircraft"

Well worth a look at for those interested

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUZ6SMmTKns

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Nice little vid, some good shots there, also came across this, AF-2 has just surpassed 1,000 flight hours, and also a link for an update of the program status as of 1 May, has some good info on numbers, pricing etc

http://www.edwards.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123414865

http://www.lockheedmartin.com.au/co.../australia/documents/F-35FastFactsMay2014.pdf

Cheers

First major incident for the Program, bound to happen sooner or later.I hope this doesn't affect plans for the UK debut coming up.

Fire damages F-35A on Eglin runway | Air Force Times | airforcetimes.com

Fire damages F-35A on Eglin runway

Jun. 23, 2014 - 04:54PM

An F-35A was damaged in a “significant fire” Monday morning while on the runway at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida.

The pilot was not injured and was able to safely egress the aircraft after bringing it to a stop and shutting down the engine at about 9:15 a.m., Eglin spokeswoman 1st Lt. Hope Cronin said. The pilot, an instructor pilot with the 58th Fighter Squadron, was taking off as part of a two-ship formation for a continuation training mission, she said.

The fire originated in the tail of the aircraft. Emergency crews were able to extinguish the fire, which is under investigation. No details on the extent of damage to the aircraft were available, Cronin said...

With no one hurt, it was a good fire. Hopefully it doesn't take too long to find the cause and it's a relatively simple fix or service issue.
However it has renewed my faith in the wonders of Polly/Mono God/s, imagine if the f-35 caught on fire first? It won't be for the want of trying, but I think it has taken the wind out of a few sails

As per usual the US is playing catch up to the Russians, they managed to have one of their prototypes catch fire far earlier in their test program. You have to wonder if it was a genuine fire in the F-35 or a publicity stunt to pretend their testing as as advanced as the Russians.

Fleet losses as of today

F-35 fleet....1%
PAK FA......20%

Initial reports were that F-35A fleet have been grounded with F-35B/C remaining operational, however since it appears that the F-35A fleet have not been grounded but flight operations from the base in question have been restructured as the aircraft is still out on the runway.

Some positive news. It would seem not to be a design issue since only Eglin CTOL jets were temporarily grounded, Bs and Cs were not. So some xondition or event that was unique to the jet that caught fire,,perhaps FOD-related.


U.S. Air Force to resume F-35A fighter jet flights Wednesday
U.S. Air Force to resume F-35A fighter jet flights Wednesday By Andrea Shalal WASHINGTON | Tue Jun 24, 2014 4:23pm EDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Air Force said it will resume flights of Lockheed Martin Corp's F-35 A-model fighter jets at a Florida air base on Wednesday, two days after one of the jets caught fire while preparing for takeoff.

"We intend to resume flights of the F-35As tomorrow," 1st Lieutenant Hope Cronin, a spokeswoman for the Air Force 33rd Fighter Wing, said on Tuesday. The unit trains Air Force, Marine Corps and Navy pilots to fly the new jets at Eglin Air Force Base.

The Air Force ordered a temporary halt in F-35A flights on Monday after a fire broke out in the rear of the plane, forcing the pilot to abort his takeoff.

Cronin said the other 25 F-35 A-model jets at the base had not shown similar problems, but declined comment on a possible cause of the "significant fire" in the rear of the F-35...

flights resume:

US to resume F-35A operations today after two-day suspension - Airforce Technology

thanks GF, I've had a heck of a time trying to find out about it...I even googled
https://www.google.com.au/#q=f-35+fire+"bill+sweetman"&tbm=nws
Your search - f-35 fire "bill sweetman" - did not match any news results

The "pause" in flight operations continues for the A and B jets. It seems they have to,resolve a bureaucratic bottleneck to ensure everyone is on the same page so they can determine the cause of the fire and implement corrective action.
Marine, Air Force JSF Flights Stalled; AETC Puts F-35A Under Lock, Key « Breaking Defense - Defense industry news, analysis and commentary

Things are looking good for the JSF UK debut. In,another report, pieces of,the F135 engine are said to have been found along the runway.


AETC Sharing Info On Fire Damaged F-35A; F-35Bs Resuming Flight « Breaking Defense - Defense industry news, analysis and commentary

WASHINGTON: The Marines plan to get their F-35Bs back up in the air this afternoon after last week’s F-35A fire at Eglin Air Force Base and remain committed to flying several planes to the Royal International Air Tattoo and the Farnborough Air Show in the United Kingdom.

“The Marine Corps will resume F-35B flight operations today. We are continuing with our plans to deploy to the UK next month,” Marine Capt. Richard Ulsh said in an email.

A final decision on the F-35B flights to the UK should be made early next week. The plane, of course, is set to fly at the christening of the Britain’s largest-ever aircraft carrier, the HMS Queen Elizabeth. F-35Bs are the primary aircraft that will fly on the new carrier.

The Navy and Air Force aircraft remain on the ground “in safety pause”, a program source said in an email, They will conduct “maintenance activities, risk reduction inspections and ground tests, as appropriate” until the all-clear is given to resume flight operations.

update:

AETC Sharing Info On Fire Damaged F-35A; F-35Bs Resuming Flight « Breaking Defense - Defense industry news, analysis and commentary

The problem with F-35 is that it try to be everything, even a kitchen sink.