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F-35B/C Lightning II (Joint Strike Fighter)

wink

wink

War Hoover NFO.
None
Super Moderator
Contributor
My son is interning with Lockheed on the F-35 line in Ft Worth. He just missed the take off of the VFA-101 aircraft the other day. The spousal unit and myself are flying out this weekend and he will give us a tour of the plant. Really looking forward to it. Interesting side note, early on he was taken out on tour of the facility and ran into the only A-12 built. I suppose it was an engineering exercise of some sort since it never flew, to the best of my knowledge. Can you imagine how much different NAVAIR would have been if the Avenger II had made it to the fleet?
 
wink

wink

War Hoover NFO.
None
Super Moderator
Contributor
Strictly no photos. He did send me this though (thank you google). Ah... it is the one in the bag, not the blue and yellow one. ;) He did get to peek under the cover.
A-12.jpg
 
Renegade One

Renegade One

Well-Known Member
None
helolumpy said:
There was an F-35 in the pattern at NPA Saturday morning, in form with 2 hornets tight and one in loose trail (taking photos?).
They overflow me on the course 3 times.
Please let the record show that my crappy score was directly due to being distracted by the F-35... (That's my story and I'm sticking to it!!)
Click to expand...

One can only assume that you're talking about GOLF score, yes? Any excuse is a good one...;)
 
Renegade One

Renegade One

Well-Known Member
None
wink said:
My son is interning with Lockheed on the F-35 line in Ft Worth. He just missed the take off of the VFA-101 aircraft the other day. The spousal unit and myself are flying out this weekend and he will give us a tour of the plant. Really looking forward to it. Interesting side note, early on he was taken out on tour of the facility and ran into the only A-12 built. I suppose it was an engineering exercise of some sort since it never flew, to the best of my knowledge. Can you imagine how much different NAVAIR would have been if the Avenger II had made it to the fleet?
Click to expand...
The only A-12 built was, in fact, a full-scale mock-up…think 3D Powerpoint on steroids. That was much of the problem. DoD never saw enough that was "real" to further fund McDonnell Douglas/General Dynamics…the latter legacy aircraft company (later subsumed into Lockheed Martin) explaining why it's at the Fort Worth Plant...

The plant tour is fascinating…enjoy. Originally built B-24 "Liberators", B-32 "Dominators", B-36 "Peacemakers", etc. Since then, "Air Force Plant 4" has produced the B-58 "Hustler", F-111 "Aardvark" and F-16 "Fighting Falcon" aircraft. Between 1947 and 1954, 383 B-36s were built (see the great Jimmy Stewart movie "Strategic Air Command"…much of which was filmed at (the former) Carswell AFB (now JRB Fort Worth, I think) when is was a major SAC base in the 1960s), and afterwards the Mach-2-capable B-58 (pop-culture movie: "Fail Safe"). By 1966, the plant had expanded to 4.7 million square feet, and by 1968 it had expanded further to 6.5 million square feet, to accommodate production of the F-111. At the end of the Cold War, the plant was fabricating, assembling, and testing the F-16 fighter for the USAF and 10 allied nations. In March 1992, Lockheed (now Lockheed Martin) took over operation of the facility to produce F-16 and F-22 "Raptor" aircraft, and now, the F-35 "Lightning II" Joint Strike Fighter. It's HUGE…main building complex over a mile long, as memory serves. Hope "Little Wink" can snag one of the golf carts for the tour…otherwise, bring your walking shoes. ;)
 
hobbstc

hobbstc

Member
None
Lawman said:
Any time we fly near any kind of foul farm (chicken, pheasant, etc) the local Base Ops gets to write a check for ever dead chicken in that guys pen. It's so prevalent at Rucker that they've established a 1km RAZ around any and all chicken coops and for those of you that have never flown over southeastern Alabama that's about every other damn farm.
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Yep, nothing like trying to learn to fly a traffic pattern in primary while being yelled at not to overfly that chicken coup or that middle school (right at the end of downwind).
 
hobbstc

hobbstc

Member
None
Renegade One said:
Only the strong survive…which you appear to have done.
Click to expand...
Ha! No thanks to my primary instructor who told me the day before my final check ride that maybe I should consider not everyone is cut out to fly helicopters. Nothing like a nice confidence booster.
 
hobbstc

hobbstc

Member
None
Renegade One said:
Was s/he smiling? Hope so...
Click to expand...
No, he was dead serious. Come to find out after I checked, none of the other IPs liked to fly when he was around because he was so kooky. I remember the second or third week he took off from the middle of the field and turned the wrong direction into traffic in the downwind. I had to use the two challenge rule to get him to pay attention to what I was saying. I learned so much more after I got to instruments, it was unreal. Wish I would have had a better instructor.
 
wink

wink

War Hoover NFO.
None
Super Moderator
Contributor
Renegade One said:
... It's HUGE…main building complex over a mile long, as memory serves. Hope "Little Wink" can snag one of the golf carts for the tour…otherwise, bring your walking shoes. ;)
Click to expand...
Yup-, he is very impressed with the line. Since we will be there on a Sat he is pretty sure a golf cart will come with the guest passes.
 
helolumpy

helolumpy

Apprentice School Principal
pilot
Contributor
hobbstc said:
Ha! No thanks to my primary instructor who told me the day before my final check ride that maybe I should consider not everyone is cut out to fly helicopters. Nothing like a nice confidence booster.
Click to expand...



On the flip side, during Primary, my On Wing asked me if I would be OK flying helicopters? (It might have been right after a very 'firm' landing....)
 
pourts

pourts

former Marine F/A-18 pilot & FAC, current MBA stud
pilot
usmarinemike said:
The GAU-12 that we carry is hoss (except that it retains the brass, which is kinda dumb).
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You would rather have the brass banging against the airframe or possibly FODing a motor? I am going to go out on a limb here and say that every modern fighter or attack aircraft keeps its spent casings.
 
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