F-35 coming to RIAT / Farnborough

[nigelblake]

I agree with the above. There are many single engined combat jets, F16, Mirage F1 etc that have been successful and reliable, but the F35's engine with a forward drive shaft to the front lift fan and that articulated engine nozzle (that looks to borrow a lot of it's design from the 20+ year old Soviet YAK 141) is just too complex to be reliable!

[C24]

How many Super Hornets could be bought for the cost of one F-35? Do we need such an aircraft?

Don't lose too much sleep over the F-35s being at RIAT, interesting this discussion may be, try to think of the situation as a football match, you wouldn't want to know the result before you went to the game.

Providing the weather is half decent & the are aeroplanes flying about the sky making a lot of noise, enjoy it. Life is too short to worry about things over which you have no control.

Mind you, it is fun moaning and whingeing.

[rva65]

Trying to fit the needs and requirements of three services into one type is probably not the best idea, unless it's an F-4 !

[pb643]

I agree with the above. There are many single engined combat jets, F16, Mirage F1 etc that have been successful and reliable, but the F35's engine with a forward drive shaft to the front lift fan and that articulated engine nozzle (that looks to borrow a lot of it's design from the 20+ year old Soviet YAK 141) is just too complex to be reliable!

I can't recall the details, but I am pretty sure that the Yakolev design bureaux were consulted by Lockheed Martin regarding there work on the Yak 41.

[Tronk 11]

Is this the first grounding of the F-35? I'd expect teething problems, or is it a bigger issue here as they won't be coming to the UK & upsets the enthusiast.

The manufacturers are in an impossible position & can't win. Don't send it because of safety issues, or have one crash en route? Personally you have to look at the sensible option, your not going to impress investors trying to find a pilot & wreckage in the Atlantic AFTER there's been a fire a few weeks before & knew about it. You could potentially loose the whole program, & that's not good news for the workers in the US & potential ones in the UK/globally. Its decades of work for people & investment in communities that is needed. Like wise, don't send the plane & everyone shouts 'THE F-35 IS RUBBISH, IT CAN'T GET HERE!' Its a no brainer.
Your risking the entire program on sending a couple of jets to the UK!

Other aircraft have had issues, like the Dreamliner, but stuff can be sorted. It may be a technical issue which is more serious, or a quality control issue with some part slipping through the net

[filmman]

Unlikely F-35 coming because they really need to fix the problem, having an aborted attempt to make RIAT could result in lost sales.

The old Harrier carrier was a typical highly effective way of the navy keeping useful air cover; without it we would not have attemptmpted the Falklands campaign.

Building the latest larger carriers which can't currently be used by normal navy aviation was a stupid decision; when the vetol F-35 stops flying the carriers will either be chopped or converted. Has anyone wondered how the RN can protect them with the diminished frigate/destroyer "fleet"? The problem is the carriers have no secondhand value and can the navy afford to operate them. So I will make it a priority to photo a RN F-35 in case they have short navy operational life.

[nigelblake]

I agree with the above. There are many single engined combat jets, F16, Mirage F1 etc that have been successful and reliable, but the F35's engine with a forward drive shaft to the front lift fan and that articulated engine nozzle (that looks to borrow a lot of it's design from the 20+ year old Soviet YAK 141) is just too complex to be reliable!

I can't recall the details, but I am pretty sure that the Yakolev design bureaux were consulted by Lockheed Martin regarding there work on the Yak 41.

Yes I understand there was some patent licensing involved, the swivelling nozzle design in particular!

[das]

I reckon the pianos they launched from the mighty Ark Royal catapults were more aerodynamic than the whale blubber F35 !

[Unknown74]

I reckon the nearest anyone in the UK will get to an F-35 in the near future will be the replica that was on the HMS Queen Elizabeth at Rosyth on Friday. Hopefully I'm wrong but let's hope.

[nigelblake]

I agree with the above. There are many single engined combat jets, F16, Mirage F1 etc that have been successful and reliable, but the F35's engine with a forward drive shaft to the front lift fan and that articulated engine nozzle (that looks to borrow a lot of it's design from the 20+ year old Soviet YAK 141) is just too complex to be reliable!

I can't recall the details, but I am pretty sure that the Yakolev design bureaux were consulted by Lockheed Martin regarding there work on the Yak 41.

Yes I understand there was some patent licensing involved, the swivelling nozzle design in particular!

This is worth a look, the info under the video has details of Yakolev and Lockheed Martin getting involved together on the engine design. The video soundtrack sounds like it's being played backwards though!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8QKj4K8Ko4

[pb643]

Thanks, will take a look.

(It is one of my regrets that I missed the Yak flying at Farnborough, though mostly recompensed by seeing the Tu22M fly)

[looknlisten]

Some more news as of yesterday.
I didn't realize that the pilot involved with the fire was actually preparing to practice for the UK airshow;
http://guardianlv.com/2014/07/f-35-jet- ... ded-video/

"The office of the U.S. Pentagon said the pilot involved was preparing for airshows to be held in the UK later in July.
However, now it appears that all plans for the F-35 fighter jet, which was set to feature in a fly-by during the naming ceremony of a British aircraft carrier, may be canceled until the investigation is complete."

[Thunder]

But wasn't the fire on a F-35A, and it's F-35B's that are meant to be coming across, so I can't see why the pilot of the fire stricken one would've been preparing for the UK airshows?

[kstater94]

With the fact that the V/STOL feature of the F-35 won't be demonstrated, it really doesn't matter which model he practices in. As the unit at Eglin has a mixed batch of aircraft, at that point it simply becomes a matter of checking out which ever airframes are available at the time (kinda like when Noel takes a two seat Typhoon up to practice his demo even though he usually uses a single seat model for the actual demo).

Cheers
John

[Thunder]

Don't think it would be as easy as that, the F-35B has a totally different engine therefor different flight characteristics and handling, surely?

[Dan213]

With the fact that the V/STOL feature of the F-35 won't be demonstrated, it really doesn't matter which model he practices in. As the unit at Eglin has a mixed batch of aircraft, at that point it simply becomes a matter of checking out which ever airframes are available at the time (kinda like when Noel takes a two seat Typhoon up to practice his demo even though he usually uses a single seat model for the actual demo).

Cheers
John

The VSTOL capability will be demostrated during the display. That was stated by the RAF display pilot

[Spitfire88]

With the fact that the V/STOL feature of the F-35 won't be demonstrated, it really doesn't matter which model he practices in. As the unit at Eglin has a mixed batch of aircraft, at that point it simply becomes a matter of checking out which ever airframes are available at the time (kinda like when Noel takes a two seat Typhoon up to practice his demo even though he usually uses a single seat model for the actual demo).

Cheers
John

The VSTOL capability will be demostrated during the display. That was stated by the RAF display pilot

I was told by a Riat person that they cannot do verticle takeoff and landings at fairford as it will melt the runway.

[TonyO]

This is required reading for the F-35 deployment: http://aviationweek.com/farnborough-201 ... antic-trip

[Spitfire88]

How would it be different from a harrier? Or a steep climb we often see from F18's and the F22 when it was there?

I have no idea but i was told this by a member of RIAT so i guessing they know more than us.

[Dan213]

With the fact that the V/STOL feature of the F-35 won't be demonstrated, it really doesn't matter which model he practices in. As the unit at Eglin has a mixed batch of aircraft, at that point it simply becomes a matter of checking out which ever airframes are available at the time (kinda like when Noel takes a two seat Typhoon up to practice his demo even though he usually uses a single seat model for the actual demo).

Cheers
John

The VSTOL capability will be demostrated during the display. That was stated by the RAF display pilot

I was told by a Riat person that they cannot do verticle takeoff and landings at fairford as it will melt the runway.

Correct, however, it will hover and will perform a low speed landing. Both of these are only possible with the F35B


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