Marines and RAF Bring the F-35B to the UK

07/10/2016
Marines with Marine Operational Test and Evaluation Squadron One and a Royal Air Force pilot with Marine Fighter Attack Training Squadron 501 successfully conducted the first ever trans-Atlantic flight of the F-35B Lightning II, June 29, 2016. The piliots highlight the ground up experience of the two services bringing the…

F-35B First Transatlantic Flight

07/02/2016
07/02/2016: F-35B making its first transatlantic flight. Three F-35’s flew from MCAS Beaufort in South Carolina and landed at RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire, England.  They were assisted by two KC-10’s. Footage courtesy of Cpl. Brian Burdett: 6/29/16

An Italian First: The F-35 Crosses the Atlantic

02/06/2016
At 1430 on February 5th, the first Italian made F-35A flew into the pattern at Patuxent River Naval Air Station, Maryland and touched down. Known to all Naval Aviators as “Pax” this historic flight of an Italian fighter pilot, wearing his cold water survival suit, flew the single seat, single engine F-35A…

Italian F-35 Pilots First Flight

11/10/2015
The impact of the F35 as a global coalition capability is clear to the professionals who are shaping airpower modernization. For example, the head of the Italian Air Force, Lt. General Preziosa hammered home the point of how significant the impact of the F-35 was in a recent interview in…

Test Firing of F-35 Gun

11/02/2015
2015-11-02 F-35 test pilot Maj Charles “Flak” Trickey fires the first aerial gun test burst of the GAU-22/A 25mm gun from F-35A aircraft AF-2. The video shows the aerial gun test, which will provide operational F-35A pilots the ability to engage air-to-ground or air-to-air weapon targets, in addition to beyond…

Italian Built F-35 Makes First Flight

09/21/2015
09/21/2015: The F-35 is being built on three final assembly lines. The main one is in Fort Worth Texas. The second one is located at Cameri Air Force Base in Italy. This facility will transition to a full up maintenance facility after its run of planes have been built. Planes…

Air Refueling of F-35s

06/19/2015
2015-06-19  F-35′s from the 56th Fighter Wing are seen with two KC-135′s for an aerial refueling mission over Arizona. Credit Video: 56th Fighter Wing Public Affairs 6/5/15 And the perspective from MCAS Beaufort: Fueling a fighter jet mid-mission isn’t as easy as exiting a highway to top off your tank. It’s really…

F-35Bs Arrive Aboard USS WASP for Operational Testing

05/22/2015
2015-05-22 Six aircraft arrived for the opening of OT-1 (first phase of operational testing) on May 18, 2015 aboard the USS Wasp. The six aircraft are from Marine Fighter Attack Training Squadron 501, Marine Aircraft Group 31, 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing, Beaufort, South Carolina, and Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 121,…