Lockheed Martin F-35

[Mailman]

Jims garage art made me think of something. I have lived for most of my life in pretty close proximity to Luke AFB, former training base for the F-16 for pilots from all over the world. But now their mission has changed to training pilots in the F-35, being a training base means they fly A LOT OF MISSIONS. They are a very familiar sight AND SOUND around here.

They are way louder than the F-16 was, and depending on where they are flying on a given day they fly directly over our house, day and night. I don’t mind at all , the sound of freedom and all that. Today when I was riding my bike in pursuit of brisket, I rode right past the end of the runway at Luke. There were a bunch of old guys sitting there with binoculars. You hardly need them, when those warbirds take off, they’re only about forty feet above the road, so close you feel like you could reach up and touch them, and they thunderous! I have done the same thing in the past, I used to pick up some McDonalds right by the base and park at the end of the runway on my tailgate. After 9/11 they started chasing people off and I was surprised to see those old guys there today.
I used to pass right by the base every day when I was working and one morning I was watching this F-35 taking off and I was surprised when he hadn’t even cleared the chain link fence around the base and he suddenly pulled that plane straight up and simply disappeared like a rocket. I’ve never seen one do that before or since.

I can’t imagine the G-forces that pilot must’ve been pulling. They are quite a plane!

 

[member28833]

Oregon Air National Guard base at Portland is right across the Columbia river from my Washington home.
F-16s in groups of 3-5 are quite common to watch here too. Sometimes car alarms go off . Sounds like F-35s would set ALL of the car alarms off ?
Go Air Guard! I like them too

 

[azman857]

I've seen the F-35 close up at D-M during the "Heritage Flight Training" weekend. They are a very noisy bird and I should know having worked on F-4D, F-111A and F models and F-16's. I think they are worse than the F-111's and those were twin engine birds.

 

[GLJ]

Was working in Sioux Falls SD a few years ago. Route back to the hotel took me past the end of the local airport. Not sure who was flying out of there but they were flying F16s I believe. Awe inspiring watching them take off. Once I saw what was going on I understood why I kept thinking I was hearing thunder when I was in my hotel room.

 

[59Tebo]

I once saw an F-16 taking off out of Hancock A.B. and went straight up, out of sight. A former Air Force avionics tech friend of mine at work told me they do that on the first flight after a major overhaul. If anything goes wrong, it'll happen on take-off. By launching straight up, the pilot has the best chance of ejecting, and so close to the Air Base, would minimize collateral crash damage. That's good for us, and it's gotta be a gas for the pilot!
And those F-35 are really amazing birds! If they show up, the fight's over before it started... That's air superiority!

 

[Jim]

.......do that on the first flight after a major overhaul.

It's called an "FCF." Functional Check Flight. Altitude converts to time.... time to work a problem (such as an engine failure). The more altitude you have, the more time you have to work the problem. The sooner you get that attitude, the better.

 

[Jim]

In my 22 yrs. in the Air Force, I got pretty lucky. I got quiet a few flights in the right seat of an F-111. She wouldn't pull straight up like the 16's and 35's but in pure speed, she was a beast. I remember once we did a touch and go with very little fuel left (means we were very light). As soon as the wheels came off the runway the we pulled the gear up, held the nose down and let her have her head... in full afterburner. At 450 kts we went straight up in a 4G pull. Next time I looked back in the cockpit we were passing thru 25,000 ft. The rush is almost indescribable.

 

[Mailman]

That must’ve been a real thrill Jim! That is a wicked looking plane.

 

[Meddy]

A pic of one of ours from my Air Force days Jim.

 

[gggGary]

Cool stuff.
Been around the Harrier demonstrations at Oshkosh, 100 yards away? a few times. Loud enough for me!

 

[Mailman]

Edit: this was suppose to be posted in the 10 favorite planes thread, oops.

No particular order....
Who said it has to be a plane?
The A-64 Apache attack helicopter, variations can kill tanks while hiding BEHIND mountains. It’s built right here in Mesa Az.

The A-10 Warthog, you gotta love a flying Gatling gun that spits out depleted uranium bullets. And it’s built like a tank.

The venerable B-52 bomber, nuff said.

The AC-130 Spectre gunship. Death from above.

The Harrier, true innovation, a game changer.

The B-2 , just wicked cool. Totally unstable without computer controls.

The SR-51, the best...period. You gotta be an astronaut to fly one.

The MQ-9 Reaper, replaced the Predator. It’s three times faster, flies higher, and stays in the air longer.
Oh...and a guy sitting at a desk in Langley Virginia can blow up terrorists in Afghanistan while eating a sandwich.

North American XB-70 Valkyrie designed in the 1950’s to be a strategic long range bomber. It could fly thousands of miles at Mach 3 at 70,000 feet. Russian missle capability improvements made it obsolete before it was ever produced. Only two prototypes were ever built and one was destroyed in a mid air collision. But Oh My what a
plane it was.

 

[FB71]

F-111s were always some of my favorite birds! I was MD ANG 135th TAG in the 90s, working with E model C-130s (unit dissolved). We also had the 175th TFW, flying A-10s (still do) out of Warfield ANGB in Middle River, MD (part of the old Glenn L. Martin aircraft plant). I grew up in the flight path, two or three miles from the runway. Always felt like I could just reach up and touch the birds as the came and went. I still remember the C-9s and A-37s they flew in the 70's and early 80's.
I used to like to wander down to the old seaplane ramps where the Martin seaplanes were launched in the 40's. My great aunt also worked at Martin during the war, installing wiring harnesses in B-26s. She and her coworkers would sneak snapshots of themselves with messages on the back into aircraft for troops to find.
Spent much time up in Alpena, MI at the CRTC there. Usually flying with F-16s out of Selfridge, KC-135s out of McGuire, and RF-4s out of Reno (I think). Also spent a good bit of time in Aviano, Italy during Bosnia, and some time in Rhein Main and Ramstein.
During BARC, MDANG lost the 135th, and the 175th was initially converted to a Cyber security base only. They've since restored the A-10 TFG, but we know they'll eventually be replaced, most likely with the F-35. I'm not sold on the F-35 as an A-10 replacement for CAS just yet... I'm keeping an eye on the A-X2 CAS program, but I don't think any of the proposed aircraft (like the A-29 Super Tocano) really fit the bill...

 

[FB71]

Mailman, stop! My penis can only get so erect!!

 

[Mailman]

I’m with you on the A-10. I think there is still a need for less sophisticated, tough as nails military planes. There’s are a lot of combat theatres that are not super sophisticated and a plane like the Warthog is just plain deadly.
I loved your story by the way. Good stuff!

 

[fredintoon]

Oh the nostalgia,
from our office at the end of the BAC Filton runway in the 1950s/60s.
Watching Hawker Harriers VTOL & fly backwards.
Watching the Company's Olympus engined Canberra bomber jump off the runway to go STRAIGHT UP and punch a hole in the cloudbase

Watching a Vulcan bomber do an emergency take off THROUGH the barrier fence after a brake failure on landing.
Standing outside along with 10,000 other guys, watching Concorde 002's first take off.
​

 

[Jim]

Fred, I was at Filton in the early 80's doing depot work. First day there I popped out the hanger for a smoke... and sitting on the ramp was an old derelict Concorde. I believe it was your #002. Went out and had a look 'round it and two old gentlemen walked out to me. Turned out one of em was a flt test engineer on the original program. Lovely gentleman. He had someone rustle up some stairs and we got in the cockpit. Spent an hour up there listening to his stories. Good times.

 

[fredintoon]

Fred, I was at Filton in the early 80's doing depot work. First day there I popped out the hanger for a smoke... and sitting on the ramp was an old derelict Concorde. I believe it was your #002. Went out and had a look 'round it and two old gentlemen walked out to me. Turned out one of em was a flt test engineer on the original program. Lovely gentleman. He had someone rustle up some stairs and we got in the cockpit. Spent an hour up there listening to his stories. Good times.

Hi Jim,
I left BAC and emigrated to Canada in 1969.
I suppose that when you were there the bastards hadn't bulldozed the main runway yet?
Tell ya, the British aerospace companies can survive anything except the bean-counting halfwits that run them.

 

[MaxPete]

Cool stuff.
Been around the Harrier demonstrations at Oshkosh, 100 yards away? a few times. Loud enough for me!

Q: what is louder than a hovering Harrier?
A: six hovering Harriers.

Q: what is louder than six hovering Harriers?
A: nothing.

NOTHING is louder than six hovering Harriers.

 

[gggGary]

Q: what is louder than a hovering Harrier?
A: six hovering Harriers.

Q: what is louder than six hovering Harriers?
A: nothing.

NOTHING is louder than six hovering Harriers.

Your lips are moving Pete but I can't HEAR you!

 

[MaxPete]

I saw/heard six hovering at March AFB around.....2003-5 (?).

Holy cow - Charles and Henry - what have you done?