mrowl
12/15/2006, 04:21 PM
Cool.
http://www.dfw.com/images/dfw/dfw/16249/264045355305.jpg
Lockheed's new jet fighter take flight
By BOB COX
Star-Telegram Staff Writer
Aviation history was made early this afternoon when the F-35 Lightning II fighter made a smooth, if shortened, first test flight over Fort Worth.
The gray, twin-tailed airplane roared down the runway and leaped gracefully into the southern sky at about 12:45 p.m.
Joined by two F-16 chase planes flying on either side, Lockheed Martin test pilot Jon Beesley flew the aircraft for 35 minutes, completing a series of tests intricately scripted beforehand.
The initial flight was supposed to last one hour. But Beesley, after conferring with ground controllers, opted to return to base early after one of the data measurement systems aboard the plane gave abnormal readings.
Lockheed officials said the first flight was a complete success despite the instrumentation glitch. Beesley ``did everything he wanted to do,” a Lockheed Martin official said afterwards.
The official said the flight was shortened because there was ``no need to push the envelope.”
The first flight came a little more than five years after the Pentagon awarded Lockheed Martin a contract to develop the next-generation fighter plane.
Estimated at $275 billion stretched over the next two decades, the contract could be the largest defense contract ever. The Pentagon plans to make roughly 2,500 of the planes. Eight other countries might also purchase the jet. Bob Cox, 817-390-7723 The Associated Press contributed to this report.
http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/16250146.htm
http://www.dfw.com/images/dfw/dfw/16249/264045355305.jpg
Lockheed's new jet fighter take flight
By BOB COX
Star-Telegram Staff Writer
Aviation history was made early this afternoon when the F-35 Lightning II fighter made a smooth, if shortened, first test flight over Fort Worth.
The gray, twin-tailed airplane roared down the runway and leaped gracefully into the southern sky at about 12:45 p.m.
Joined by two F-16 chase planes flying on either side, Lockheed Martin test pilot Jon Beesley flew the aircraft for 35 minutes, completing a series of tests intricately scripted beforehand.
The initial flight was supposed to last one hour. But Beesley, after conferring with ground controllers, opted to return to base early after one of the data measurement systems aboard the plane gave abnormal readings.
Lockheed officials said the first flight was a complete success despite the instrumentation glitch. Beesley ``did everything he wanted to do,” a Lockheed Martin official said afterwards.
The official said the flight was shortened because there was ``no need to push the envelope.”
The first flight came a little more than five years after the Pentagon awarded Lockheed Martin a contract to develop the next-generation fighter plane.
Estimated at $275 billion stretched over the next two decades, the contract could be the largest defense contract ever. The Pentagon plans to make roughly 2,500 of the planes. Eight other countries might also purchase the jet. Bob Cox, 817-390-7723 The Associated Press contributed to this report.
http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/16250146.htm