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#3342632 - 07/15/11 07:20 PM
First F-35 arrives at Eglin
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Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 1,208
ripper998
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Member
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 1,208
San Antonio, Tx
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Wasn't aware they were being delivered already. Seems like yesterday the first F-22 was delivered. 7/15/2011 - EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. (AFNS) -- The Department of Defense's first F-35 Lightning II joint strike fighter touched down at its new home here July 14, marking a major milestone in the nation's military history.
Upon arrival, the jet officially became part of the Air Force inventory. It now belongs to the JSF training unit, the 33rd Fighter Wing.
Flying it in was Lt. Col. Eric Smith of the 58th Fighter Squadron, the first Air Force qualified F-35 pilot.
"It was a smooth ride in," said the colonel of the hour and 40 minute flight. "The jet behaved awesomely. I'm just so proud to bring it home to Eglin (Air Force Base)."
A crowd of 33rd FW people braved the 90 degree heat to watch the fifth-generation fighter touchdown and taxi in. Col. Andrew Toth, the 33rd FW commander, was the first to greet his pilot upon arrival.
"It's an exciting day here at the wing where our joint and integrated team has been preparing for this day since October 2009," Toth said. "I have no doubt the caliber of the Airmen, Sailors, Marines and contractors will provide safe and effective training operations at Eglin (AFB). Now, we look forward to the start of classes later this year."
Now that the aircraft is on station, F-35 maintainers will train and be certified here at home.
"It's pretty exciting," said Tech. Sgt. Brian West, the crew chief for the new aircraft. "We're thrilled to be able to train with one of our own."
As the world's first multi-role stealth fighter, the F-35 is known for its superior range, cutting-edge avionics and next-generation sensor fusion. Each model shares breakthroughs in combat performance, survivability and support, while each is specifically tailored for unique service needs.
Lt. Col. J.D. Wilbourne, the 58th FS commander, said he was thrilled to see his first aircraft arrive, one day before his change of command.
"This is the best week ever," said the commander, who flew chase in an F-16 Fighting Falcon. "This aircraft ensures air dominance for the next 30 years, and today marks the first step toward that goal."
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#3342677 - 07/15/11 08:38 PM
Re: First F-35 arrives at Eglin
[Re: ripper998]
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Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 10,571
Arthonon
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California
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Yeah, Aussie Airpower is on a mission to slam the F-35, so I don't think what they say is going to be a reliable source of information. Remember, it's not just about what they say, but how they say it and what they leave out. My guess is if the F-35 was tested against one other aircraft, say a Rafael or something, and it won, APA would report it by saying "The Rafael came in second in the contest, while the F-35 came in next to last."
At this point, no one outside of a very small circle really knows how the F-35 will stack up to other aircraft, so I think it's hard to say it's outdated just yet. I think a bigger concern is what it's costing, even if it's everything they're claiming it will be.
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#3342699 - 07/15/11 09:10 PM
Re: First F-35 arrives at Eglin
[Re: ripper998]
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Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 10,571
Arthonon
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California
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I didn't even bother watching the Pierre Sprey video - I've seen him enough to know that basically if it's not an F-86 he's not going to like it. He wants a very simple, guns- and IR missile-armed plane, and doesn't like what the F-16 became over it's development (and it's been a terrible aircraft, right?).
Watching the first few minutes of the Winslow T. Wheeler video, he says that BVR is basically unproven, but it's performed very well in the past 20 years, so I'm not even sure what he means by that. Plus, any modern aircraft is going to have BVR capability, so even if the F-35 was replaced by something else, that would be a big factor in it and he wouldn't like it.
On top of that, what direct knowledge do either of them have about the F-35? Have they flown one? Obviously not. Have they been involved with air combat operations in the past 20 years? Nope. Have they interviewed anyone who's flown the F-35? No again. So what makes their opinion more valuable than someone directly involved with the program?
Pierre Sprey trots out the same opinions for every modern aircraft - too big, too much reliance on radar, too expensive, too much avionics, etc. He didn't like the F-15, and again, that was a dismal failure as well, of course.
That's not to say that the F-35 is going to be a great aircraft, as I have no idea, but what these guys say is not going to have much meaning to me knowing their biases and backgrounds. Jon Beesley has a lot more direct combat flight experience, and has direct knowledge of the F-35, and he has great things to say about the F-35. Yes, he's LockMart's chief test pilot on the F-35 project, so he's clearly biased, but no more biased than those other two, and at least has direct experience with the systems in question.
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#3342731 - 07/15/11 10:22 PM
Re: First F-35 arrives at Eglin
[Re: ripper998]
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Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 10,571
Arthonon
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California
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My guess is it's complexity and performance. Looking at the 1930s, aircraft were really no more sophisticated than, say, boats of the day. You had roughly the same type of engine (pistons) and the same materials (aluminum, wood, etc.), and just had to tweak the shape and placement of a few items to get it to fly a certain way.
Today the flight dynamics alone are different because of the speeds involved, if nothing else. Add to that the avionics for detecting threats and targets, the way to distill that information into an understandable presentation for the pilot in real time, the sophistication of the weapons, the nature of the threats and targets, etc., and it's a lot more to figure out than just how to get the aerodynamics and weight and balance correct.
Plus, of course, once you start dealing with that much money, a lot of politics comes into play, further complicating development.
Last edited by Arthonon; 07/15/11 10:23 PM.
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#3342735 - 07/15/11 10:25 PM
Re: First F-35 arrives at Eglin
[Re: NaiseFail]
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Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 7,276
UnderTheRadar
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Austin, TX
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this outdated piece of crap
I have gaming PCs that run everything from MS-DOS 6.22 to Windows 7 64-bit
Win7 Home Prem 64
i5-3570
ASRock HM77
XFX Radeon HD 6950 2 Gig
8 Gigs GSkill DDR3 1600
500 Gig Samsung 840 SSD
1 TB WD Black SATA II HD
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ViewSonic VA2702w 1920x1080
HP L2206tm 1920x1080 Multi-Touch Screen
Antec Neo 550w PS
Antec Full Tower Case
Warthog 1663 w/ CH Pro Pedals
TIR4 w/ Clip
Logitech G110 KB
Razer Naga
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#3342737 - 07/15/11 10:26 PM
Re: First F-35 arrives at Eglin
[Re: Crane Hunter]
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Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 4,737
FearlessFrog
Senior Member
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Senior Member
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 4,737
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My feel is that the F-35, as all 5th gen aircraft, will become obsolete far too quickly considering their huge cost and development time.
What do you reckon is coming next Crane - drones, micro-drones etc?
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#3342740 - 07/15/11 10:35 PM
Re: First F-35 arrives at Eglin
[Re: ripper998]
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Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 2,169
MigBuster
Member
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Member
Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 2,169
UK
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Forget all that **** written by people who think technology stopped with the AIM-7E-2 - the F-35A/B/C is world class - and in some respects actually has an advantage over the F-22A thanks to its radar and EODAS.
The capability of this thing looks amazing, and I am sure it will prove the doubters wrong.
'Crashing and Burning since 1987'
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#3342750 - 07/15/11 10:52 PM
Re: First F-35 arrives at Eglin
[Re: ripper998]
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Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 9,163
Murphy
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Administrator
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Northern Michigan, USA
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From what I've heard...the Chinese and Russians already have all our development plans and secrets via a "network" hack that's been in place for months at our NSA network. They thought it was a safe isolated network, but a mole was working there, or hacked into the entire network, don't know for sure. Stole all our top secret info, plans for Afghanistan, even future development ideas and projects, stats etc...all of it.
Tens of thousands of 'files'. Then deleted them. Wouldn't say for sure, but they 'believe' it was from the Chinese or Russians, government sponsered.
Now they're beefing up the security for our secret networks. Cyber Security and all.
But I think the barn door has been open, for months. This all happened a few months ago.
I heard the story yesterday.
I think the cats out of the bag....no matter what plane your flying......;).
Just what I 'heard', from 'reliable sources'....could be just a 'story'....but I doubt it.
"Murphy's Law"
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#3342786 - 07/16/11 12:19 AM
Re: First F-35 arrives at Eglin
[Re: UnderTheRadar]
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Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 1,054
Cworth
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Member
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 1,054
Pennsylvania
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this outdated piece of crap Hey... Staff edit: Gone too far. Name-calling is right out.
People who think they know everything are very annoying to those of us who do.
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#3342815 - 07/16/11 01:49 AM
Re: First F-35 arrives at Eglin
[Re: ripper998]
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Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 17,632
SkateZilla
Skate Zilla Graphics
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Skate Zilla Graphics
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Posts: 17,632
Virginia Beach, VA
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Cool, another hi tech airshow piece.
HAF922, Corsair RM850, ASRock Fata1ity 990FX Pro,
Modified Corsair H100, AMD FX8350 @ 5.31GHz, 16GB G.SKILL@DDR2133,
2x R7970 Lightnings, +1 HD7950 @ 1.1/6.0GHz, Creative XFi Fata1ity Platinum Champ.,
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CH Fighterstick, Pro Throt., Pro Pedals, TM Warthog & MFDs, Fanatec CSR Wheel/Shifter, Elite Pedals
Intensity Pro 10-Bit, TrackIR 4 Pro, WD Black 1.5TB, WD Black 640GB, Samsung 850 500GB, My Book 4TB
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