Lockheed-Martin F-35A Lightning II at Edwards Air Force Base
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The first Lockheed-Martin F-35A Lightning II, AA-1 completed air-start and noise tests at Edwards Air Force Base on Thursday October 23. It returned to Fort Worth on October 24. The media entourage was bused around South B ase to the hold short line on the taxiway leading to Runway 22 Right, the temporary runway that has been serving Edwards Air Force Base as a replacement was constructed for the 50 year old 15,000-foot-long main runway. We set up at 9:00 AM.
Slideshow of F-35A Lightning II photos.
NASA Boeing 747 Shuttle Carrier N905NA is parked at NASA Dryden Flight Research Center on the north side of Rogers Dry Lake.
While we waited for the F-35A to return from its final test mission at Edwards, several other airplanes used the runway.
NASA Lockheed ER-2 N809NA taxies to the runway.
ER-2 N809NA lifts off in a very short distance.
ER-2 N809NA
NASA Beechcraft T-34C Mentor N865NA on approach to land.
The first Lockheed-Martin F-35A Lightning II AA-1 takes on fuel from Boeing KC-135R Stratotanker 61-0320 as a General Dynamics F-16D Fighting Falcon of the 412th Test Wing flies chase at half past nine.
Northrop T-38A Talon 61-0904 of the 412th Test Wing
Northrop T-38A Talon 68-8154 of the 412th Test Wing
The Edwards Air Force Base control tower.
General Dynamics F-16D Block 30H Fighting Falcon 87-0377 of the 412th Test Wing.
Ravens are a regular sight at Edwards.
F-16D 87-0377
Beechcraft C-12A Huron 76-0158
The F-35A returns from the final mission of the test series accompanied by a General Dynamics F-16D Fighting Falcon of the 412th Test Wing at 10:00 AM.
The F-35A breaks into the landing pattern for 11,000-foor-long Runway 22 Right.
The F-35A and its chase F-16D turn 180 degrees into the downwind leg of the pattern.
Boeing KC-135R Stratotanker 61-0320
Lockheed-Martin pilot Jeff "Slim" Knowles and Air Force Flight Test Center pilot Don Johnson conducted the air start and noise tests at Edwards Air Force Base.
Jeff "Slim" Knowles and Don Johnson
The cockpit canopy of the F-35A is hinged at the leading edge.
It will be nearly a year before the next F-35A arrives at Edwards.
The Lockheed-Martin X-35 Joint Strike Fighter demonstrator took off on its first flight from Air Force Plant 42 at Palmdale, California on the morning of October 24, 2000. It returned to Palmdale on November 22. It was then equipped with a lift fan and vectored thrust nozzle for short take-off/vertical landing tests as the X-35B. The Lockheed-Martin X-35B vertical take-off prototype flew from Palmdale to Edwards AFB on July 3, 2001. The first Lockheed-Martin F-35A Lightning II, AA-1 completed air-start and noise tests at Edwards Air Force Base on Thursday October 23, 2008. It returned to Fort Worth on October 24.
US Air Force Pre-production Jet Fighters
Edwards AFB displays.
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You can buy a 2020 calendar featuring my photographs of Lockheed-Martin F-35 Lightning IIs and the X-35A Joint Strike Fighter deonstrator. The 2020 edition includes six new photographs of F-35As at Luke Air Force Base
A dozen photographs of Lockheed-Martin F-35 Lightning IIs. The 2020 edition includes six new photographs of F-35As at Luke Air Force Base.;
X-35A Joint Strike Fighter demonstrator 301, Palmdale Air Force Plant 42, November 22, 2001
F-35A prototype AA-1, Edwards Air Force Base, October 23, 2008
F-35B BuNo 168720 Modex 02, VMFA-121, Luke Air Force Base, December 10, 2013
F-35A 11-5030, 56th Fighter Wing, Luke Air Force Base, March 10, 2014
F-35A 13-5068 of the 62nd Fighter Squadron Spikes, Luke Air Force Base, January 31, 2018
Royal Norwegian Air Force F-35A 15-5146,62nd Fighter Squadron Spikes, Luke AFB, January 31, 2018
F-35A 15-5120 of the 63rd Fighter Squadron Panthers, Luke Air Force Base, January 31, 2018
F-35A 15-5127 of the 63rd Fighter Squadron Panthers, Luke Air Force Base, January 31, 2018
F-35A 10-5011 of the 422nd Test and Evaluation Squadron, Luke Air Force Base, January 31, 2018
F-35A 15-5164 of the 62nd Fighter Squadron Spikes, Luke Air Force Base, March 16, 2018
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