F-35B

[rustyjeeper]

really cool video
F-35B Ship Suitability Testing

[Spaceman3750]

At least from the video, it appears that this bird meets the definition of "low and slow"... Can we use it as a SAR platform?

[rustyjeeper]

NEW record for uniform comment set here!!
Only if our SAR pilots wear ABU's while flying it
and sorry it should have been posted under aviation but I posted in the wrong place/ hopefully a moderator will relocate this!

[SARDOC]

NEW record for uniform comment set here!!

Sorry the Judges have ruled that this is not a record.  If you would have commented in the first post you would have been tied for first with about 4,093 members   

[capmaj]

Interesting that the birds have USAF or USMC pilots, even though marked as 'USS Wasp'.

[rustyjeeper]

NEW record for uniform comment set here!!

Sorry the Judges have ruled that this is not a record.  If you would have commented in the first post you would have been tied for first with about 4,093 members   

You cant blame a guy for trying.....
It continually is a source of amusement of how often the most unrelated things get turned into uniform discussions and for that reason I figured I might as well get that taken care of immediately

[SarDragon]

Interesting that the birds have USAF or USMC pilots, even though marked as 'USS Wasp'.

Considering the fact that the Wasp is a Gator Freighter, the USMC pilots are logical. Due to my current situation, I couldn't listen to the audio. Possibly more commentary later.

[CAP_Marine]

I spent 6 months on the Wasp, that's her all right. Yes, it would be USMC pilots flying the F35B as they are testing suitability to replace the AV8's they used to fly off the same deck. It looks like a carrier but is in fact a lot smaller than a modern carrier and really only suitable for rotary wing and VTOL. The term "smaller" is relative as there are still around 2,000 crew and jarheads on board. Cool video, thanks for posting.

[Pump Scout]

Indeed a Marine pilot, a LTC whose name escapes me at the moment. There was a write-up on the shipboard suitability tests in the current "Combat Aircraft".

[simon]

Cool carrier landings? Below, much more impressive from nearly a half century ago:

C-130 Hercules on an Aircraft Carrier!!

[Extremepredjudice]

The name of the plane is "BF2." Someone has good taste in games. 

The next one was probably named "BF3 B2K."

[SarDragon]

The name of the plane is "BF2." Someone has good taste in games. 

The next one was probably named "BF3 B2K."

Where did you get that?

Navy planes don't have names.

[sardak]

BF-2 is not the name of the plane. It's F-35B test aircraft #2, hence BF-2. There are also BF-1, -3, -4, -5, and a bunch of AFs and CFs, too.

As for this landing on the Wasp, from Lockheed-Martin http://www.codeonemagazine.com/article.html?item_id=83 :

3 October 2011
First F-35 Landing At Sea
Marine Corps test pilot Lt. Col. Fred Schenk made Naval Aviation history when he touched down on the deck of USS Wasp (LHD-1) at 3:12 pm in F-35B BF-2. The landing is the program's first vertical landing at sea. Lt. Col. Schenk flew the 0.9-hour ferry flight from NAS Patuxent River, Maryland, to the Wasp near Wallops Island, Virginia. The mission was Flight 119 and the twenty-third vertical landing for BF-2.

A major highlight for October was the completion of F-35B STOVL ship suitability testing aboard the USS WASP (LHD-1) off the coast of Virginia. The test began when BF-2 executed the first shipboard vertical landing on Oct. 3. The next day, BF-2 executed the first short takeoff from the WASP. During the third week of sea trials, BF-2 and BF-4 operated simultaneously on the ship. Combined, they accomplished 72 short takeoffs and 72 vertical landings during the three-week testing period.

Mike