F-35 Flight Test Fleet Now Airborne | Aviation International News

F-35 Flight Test Fleet Now Airborne

Lockheed Martin test pilot Dan Canin flew the 12th “weight-optimized” F-35 Lightning II test airframe on May 21, completing the allotted trials batch.

The third F-35C takes off from Lockheed Martin’s Fort Worth, Texas, facility May 21 on its inaugural flight. (Photo: Lockheed Martin)

By David Donald • Contributor - UK

June 6, 2011

Lockheed Martin test pilot Dan Canin flew the 12th “weight-optimized” F-35 Lightning II test airframe on May 21, completing the allotted trials batch. CF-3, the third of the F-35C carrier versions, is now undergoing initial trials before joining two other F-35Cs and four F-35B STOVL test aircraft at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md., later this year. On the same day, the F-35 made its first public display with a flypast by CF-2 at Andrews Air Force Base, Md.

The “weight-optimized” aircraft (four F-35As, five F-35Bs and three F-35Cs) were preceded by a single prototype, AA-1, which first flew on Dec.15, 2006. It was flown 91 times before being grounded in December 2009, and is now being used for live-fire testing. The first of the aircraft with production-representative airframes, BF-1, took to the skies in June 2008.

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