[bsmith13]

According to a USAF press release (from today), Hill AFB will be one of the first locations for an operational F-35 Fighter Wing! That means I have some job security! Yahoo!

[mustangdriver]

That should be cool to watch. I saw the F-22 do an airdisplay at Oshkosh this year, it was amazing.

[Waltz41]

Wow, didn't know they were gonna be in service that quick... i mean it's still a little over 2 years away, but still.............

[Hoverbug]

Originally Posted by Waltz41

Wow, didn't know they were gonna be in service that quick... i mean it's still a little over 2 years away, but still.............

Probably a tad optimistic since it hasn't flown yet and Congress has been waving the axe. The Air Force is pushing hard for it, but the money from Iraq has to come from somewhere and this one is a very tempting target.

[mustangdriver]

I also see that they are bringing the YF-23 Black Widow II out again. It is the aircraft that lost out to the YF-22. The Air Force Museum has the prototypes of both of these aircraft on display. I was recently notified that they are building another YF-23 to be a medium bomber. As a side note, the pilots actually liked the '23 more than the '22.

[bsmith13]

Originally Posted by Hoverbug

Probably a tad optimistic since it hasn't flown yet and Congress has been waving the axe. The Air Force is pushing hard for it, but the money from Iraq has to come from somewhere and this one is a very tempting target.

Depends on what you mean by "hasn't flown yet", as the prototype flight testing is finished and they are well into wind tunnel testing.

I believed it was optimistic that the F-22 would meet it's initial operational date as well, since it is even more expensive and thus, more in the crosshairs for budget cuts. Yet it made it's projected date with few problems. The F-35 has more friends in congress it would seem, since it was made to drop bombs. I doubt Hill will have a fully operational wing all at once, but I am confident we will see a roll out sometime before 2010.

[bsmith13]

Originally Posted by mustangdriver

I also see that they are bringing the YF-23 Black Widow II out again. It is the aircraft that lost out to the YF-22. The Air Force Museum has the prototypes of both of these aircraft on display. I was recently notified that they are building another YF-23 to be a medium bomber. As a side note, the pilots actually liked the '23 more than the '22.

Can you provide a link for this? I know the idea was being batted around, but hadn't heard anything official, other than the Air Force is looking for a new dedicated bomber airframe.

[mustangdriver]

I wish I could. That was the talk around the museum that I heard. As for the pilot's liking it better than the YF-22, that was straight from the mouth of a test pilot, as well as the rest of that info. Yeager told me that he liked the YF-22, but that they put a bunch of stuff in it that it doesn't need and that all of that stuff drove up the price.

[Hoverbug]

Originally Posted by bsmith13

Depends on what you mean by "hasn't flown yet", as the prototype flight testing is finished and they are well into wind tunnel testing.

I believed it was optimistic that the F-22 would meet it's initial operational date as well, since it is even more expensive and thus, more in the crosshairs for budget cuts. Yet it made it's projected date with few problems. The F-35 has more friends in congress it would seem, since it was made to drop bombs. I doubt Hill will have a fully operational wing all at once, but I am confident we will see a roll out sometime before 2010.

The X-35 is a long way from the F-35 and the F-35 hasn't flown. I don't doubt the F-35 will eventually make it to service, but this program is almost a perfect storm of things that delay implementation. You have a worst case "jointness" scenario (domestic and international) - i.e. a delay anywhere in the program creates bureaucratic (and engineering) reverberations that will gum up the works. It has a STOVL variant, which is historically the hardest class of the aircraft to bring into the fold and if it requires major re-engineering (and it may well), that could delay the "A" model as well. It also has an engine that is an unknown quantity. Lastly, it is the highest profile program at a time of war where budgets are getting very tight indeed. One F-35 buys a lot of ammo, Hummers and Strykers, which makes it any easy mark on the Hill.

There is also the fact that this is to replace the A-10. It'll likely come down to an either/or situation and I suspect once the groundpounders realize what's up they're going to start their own campaign against it.

I'll eat my shorts if it's 2010 or earlier that any sort of operational delivery occurs. My money is on 2015 or later.

[Old Crow]

There is a pretty interesting article about the JSF in the November issue of Air & Space (cover photo of a F-35B) about excessive weight gains during development which appears to have been one of the biggest threats to production and how Lockheed Martin went about solving the problem in very unique fashion. Check it out.