F-35 tests went 'remarkably well,' Lockheed Martin official says

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F-35 tests went 'remarkably well,' Lockheed Martin official says

By BOB COX


Lockheed Martin’s prototype F-35 Lightning II aircraft returned to Fort Worth on Friday after three weeks of test flights at Edwards Air Force Base in California.
The nine flight tests went "remarkably well," said Doug Pearson, vice president over the F-35 flight test program. "I’m almost surprised at how well it went."
The test aircraft, AA-1 as its known, flew from Fort Worth to Edwards on Oct. 1 for a series of flights over the Air Force’s vast desert and mountain test ranges.
Pearson said that the primary testing goals were all achieved and that flights were only postponed or delayed twice because of problems with the aircraft. "We got an awful lot of work done," he said.
Twelve times the engine was shut down in flight, as if experiencing an unexpected flameout, and then restarted. In every case, Pearson said, the pilot was able to restart the Pratt & Whitney engine without delay.
The aircraft also refueled for the first several times from an aerial tanker, another key milestone. Most of the flights were over three hours and went far and wide over the test ranges.
Lockheed sent a 45-man team of engineers and maintenance personnel to Edwards for the flights. Air Force personnel were also involved.
Conducting the flight tests at Edwards, Pearson said, was good preparation for the coming months when Lockheed and the military are slated to conduct more flights using multiple aircraft as additional test planes are readied.
"This deployment gives us confidence we’re on the right path to conducting the world’s largest flight-test program," he said.
The first test aircraft will undergo some maintenance and upgrades before it resumes test flights, scheduled for the first week of November. With about 65 flights completed, Lockheed will begin putting the aircraft through more strenuous tests to further check out the components and systems.
The second test aircraft, BF-1, is undergoing modifications and upgrades in preparation for beginning tests of its short-takeoff-vertical-landing capabilities early next year. A third test aircraft, BF-2, is scheduled to make its first flight in January.
Within the next year, Pearson said, "I expect us to be flying an F-35 [test plane] somewhere every day."


Source
http://www.star-telegram.com/business/story/996879.html