F35 Update

[C24]

The label “VISUAL SURVEILLANCE SYSTEM” in the video made me smile. Back in my day we used to call them “windows”

🛰

[Crusty]

Any ideas why they havn't dragged the thing up yet?, people in the know say its well within the capabilities of commercial firms to recover a similar sized craft from a mile down and I would expect its location to be known exactl,
or perhaps they turned off any XPDRS or ELT type devices so the Russkies can't find it and now they've lost it too?

pee up in a brewery on hold

[Crusty]

Quick to eject, obviously that wasn't recoverable but I wonder if in certain flight regimes the ejection is automatic ? I believe this was the case with the Harrier in certain circumstances.

Rich

There is an automatic system that senses the pitching forces if the lift fan fails and ejects the pilot, its possible this system operated

[slogen51]

The label “VISUAL SURVEILLANCE SYSTEM” in the video made me smile. Back in my day we used to call them “windows”

🛰

But a contractor cannot charge £50,000 for a 'window'

Perhaps it is so stealthy they can't find it

[Doughnut]

A hopefully simple technical question. Can the F-35B take off from the carrier ramp without using the lift fan ? Obviously in this instance it did not but could the main engine in reheat not produce enough thrust to get airbourn ?

[POL]

I don't think thrust is the issue, it'll be a lack of lift.

[slogen51]

A hopefully simple technical question. Can the F-35B take off from the carrier ramp without using the lift fan ? Obviously in this instance it did not but could the main engine in reheat not produce enough thrust to get airbourn ?

Not without a catapult I shouldn't have thought

I wonder where the <V1 stopping point is on the carrier? Perhaps there isn't one - brakes off (committee?!) Committed to fly?

[Supra]

Lots of 'what if' theories, but one thing is clear...Had the jet had a tad more speed & the pilot pulled the stick fully back, then ejected! He could have been the first F-35 pilot to land back-on without his jet!

[slogen51]

Does the pilot even fly it off the deck ?

F/A-18 catapulted ofF the deck are hands free - 'what ever you do don't touch the controls!'

[Agent K]

Does the pilot even fly it off the deck ?

F/A-18 catapulted of the deck are hands free - 'what ever you do don't touch the controls!'

I'd imagine so, a catapult will launch you in the correct direction, you can't move sideways and your speed etc is dictated by the catapult speed, you're a passenger in effect, for an F-35B you're still flying the aircraft and will need to use rudder and other controls to maintain the centreline and throttle etc. to control speed.

[slogen51]

Sounds about right. I thought possibly the onboard computer was doing all that.

I think on balance you are correct because if it was a fully automated process the flight wouldn't have started rolling - you would like to think a sensor could/would have detected a problem.

The jets were not grounded so it seems like human error even though I realize that is speculating ahead of the facts.

[Seahornet1]

Does the pilot even fly it off the deck ?

F/A-18 catapulted of the deck are hands free - 'what ever you do don't touch the controls!'

I know there's a lot of automation in the low-speed flight regime on the F-35B, making it much more user-friendly than the Harrier; whether this extends as far as: "To take off, click on the 'Take-Off' icon on the MFD...", well, maybe not...?

[slogen51]

Is that when the Microsoft Office Assistant paper clip pops up on the screen with a caption " it looks like you need more power. Need some help?"

[Seahornet1]

Is that when the Microsoft Office Assistant paper clip pops up on the screen with a caption " it looks like you need more power. Need some help?"

Does MS Office Assistant have an friendly animated Ejector Seat character...?

[big john]

I've watched the clip several times and I think whatever failed happened just before the start of the ramp as it appears to slow down and about halfway up the nose goes down as if under heavy braking. The pilot then realises it's not going to stop and ejects.

And the BBC news says it is not real, it's only alleged to be the incident. The BBC must have employed an ex daily fail journalist. Or have there been so many incidents of an F-35 falling off the the ramp of a carrier it could be another one?

[slogen51]

Is that when the Microsoft Office Assistant paper clip pops up on the screen with a caption " it looks like you need more power. Need some help?"

Does MS Office Assistant have an friendly animated Ejector Seat character...?

Just hit [ESC]

[Seahornet1]

A hopefully simple technical question. Can the F-35B take off from the carrier ramp without using the lift fan ? Obviously in this instance it did not but could the main engine in reheat not produce enough thrust to get airbourn ?

Some basic data, and O-level Physics standard acceleration calcs might help. Given the whole deck length of 280 m for take off (not likely in practice, but this is a 'what if' question...) and assuming a power to mass ratio of about 1.2, for a lightly loaded F-35B, you might expect an 'off-the-ramp' speed of about 57 m/s, which is about 110 knots. With a good head wind, and the ship's forward speed added on, I'd say this might be just enough. Mind you, I haven't allowed for aerodynamic drag (I'd probably need an A-Level for that ), so don't go trying it, just on my say-so!

[Seahornet1]

Is that when the Microsoft Office Assistant paper clip pops up on the screen with a caption " it looks like you need more power. Need some help?"

Does MS Office Assistant have an friendly animated Ejector Seat character...?

Just hit [ESC]

[Snoop 95]

From the video of the event the pilot seems to eject over the bow of the ship and if so was lucky not to have been run over by it.

[Tally-ho]

Bear in mind that HMS QE may have been stationary in the water during this incident. The F-35B does not need wind over the bow to take off. Refer the testing and training videos on YouTube showing take-offs from non-moving ramps on the ground. Here's one:-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNSO3NqVU2E

'Lift is a gift, thrust is a must' as the saying goes! There was a problem with thrust, caused by ... I don't know.