OT: JSF F-35 First Flight!

[tflash]

http://www.lockheedmartin.com/pressrelease/F-35.html

[Shaman]

Cool, but Lockheed should have hired a better photographer for immortalizing that event. These photos are so grainy.

[S77th-konkussion]

Sweet. I assume that this thing is a lot quieter than the Harrier? I think I lost about 25% of my hearing working around those things...

[golfsierra2]

Sweet. I assume that this thing is a lot quieter than the Harrier? I think I lost about 25% of my hearing working around those things...

PA-200 with 2x RB199 makes more noise than an Harrier. I lost the spectrum above 13000 Hz and around 400 Hz, no..

the latter was due to the air condition of a HAWK BCC.

 

Anyway, the photos are substandard for an official press release....

[Shaman]

Cool, but Lockheed should have hired a better photographer for immortalizing that event. These photos are so grainy.

 

I've found a better photo on Airliners.NET

 

http://www.airliners.net/open.file/1153177/L/

[britgliderpilot]

Sweet. I assume that this thing is a lot quieter than the Harrier? I think I lost about 25% of my hearing working around those things...

 

Ironically . . . . . nobody really knows :P

 

 

This is posing a problem for the MoD in the UK - people living around Harrier bases are forever complaining about noise, I believe there's still noise pollution regulations around airfields . . . . and nobody checked the noise levels of the STOVL JSF contenders before production. Whoops.

[hitman]

Any time you get a jet stream to crash against the ground its going to cause horrible hearing loss. Its just like putting your ear over the end of a vacuum nozzle...or putting an air line with an air gun shooting it out of a small nozzle.

[TucksonSonny]

F-35 Lightning II has 1× Pratt & Whitney F135 afterburning turbofan, (43,000 lbf w/AB, 28,000 lbf dry; 191 kN w/AB, 128 kN dry) that is a nice engine but let compare the F-35 specifications with some other strikers/fighters:

F-35 Lightning II

Range 1200 nautical miles on internal fuel (~2222 km on internal fuel)

Maximum speed: Mach > 1.6 (Mach 1.8 est.) (1,200 mph, 1930 km/h)

F-16C Block 30:

Range: 3,200+ km

The Su-30MKI has a range of 3,000 km with internal fuel which ensures a 4.5 hour combat mission

F-15E Strike Eagle:

Maximum speed: Mach 1.2, 900 mph at low altitude; Mach 2.5, 1,650 mph at high altitude (1,450 km/h / 2,655 km/h)

Range: 2,500 miles ferry with internal fuel tanks, 3,450 miles ferry with external fuel tanks and conformal fuel tanks (4,023 km / 5,552 km)

Sukhoi Su-35:

Range: 4,000 km (2,500 mi)

Maximum speed: 2,450 km/h (1,520 mph)

F-22 Raptor:

Range: ferry 2,000 mi (3200 km)

Conclusion: Poor range and slow maximum speed!:P

[S77th-konkussion]

Hmm lets see.. we have

 

Stealth, VTOL, internal weapons payload- all types.

 

So a plane that -if need be- can take off from the back of an Arleigh Burke, perform CAS to boots on the ground, go take out a building downtown with a PGB, smack down virtually any fighter thrown at it before it knows what happened, and head back to any friendly home plate the size of my garage or better. (arrested landings are forthcoming)

 

But none of this matters, now does it Sonny? Go ahead and continue cherry-picking irrelavant specs. :idiot:

[Shaman]

So any idea how the final serial version cockpit looks like?

[STRIKER]

LOL Konkussion, I agree....who cares about an bunch of planes that can travel all that distance just to get shot down LOL! Plus has anyone heard of in flight refueling? There is always a tanker nearby if the mission is that important.

[Guest IguanaKing]

F-35 Lightning II has 1× Pratt & Whitney F135 afterburning turbofan, (43,000 lbf w/AB, 28,000 lbf dry; 191 kN w/AB, 128 kN dry) that is a nice engine but let compare the F-35 specifications with some other strikers/fighters:

 

F-35 Lightning II

Range 1200 nautical miles on internal fuel (~2222 km on internal fuel)

Maximum speed: Mach > 1.6 (Mach 1.8 est.) (1,200 mph, 1930 km/h)

 

F-16C Block 30:

Range: 3,200+ km

 

The Su-30MKI has a range of 3,000 km with internal fuel which ensures a 4.5 hour combat mission

 

F-15E Strike Eagle:

Maximum speed: Mach 1.2, 900 mph at low altitude; Mach 2.5, 1,650 mph at high altitude (1,450 km/h / 2,655 km/h)

Range: 2,500 miles ferry with internal fuel tanks, 3,450 miles ferry with external fuel tanks and conformal fuel tanks (4,023 km / 5,552 km)

 

Sukhoi Su-35:

Range: 4,000 km (2,500 mi)

Maximum speed: 2,450 km/h (1,520 mph)

 

 

F-22 Raptor:

Range: ferry 2,000 mi (3200 km)

 

Conclusion: Poor range and slow maximum speed!:P

 

Sonny, you're getting sloppy in your old age. ;) If you are going to list data for comparison like that, you need to list the same parameters. It is also important to use the same units of measurement. For example: How far can that F-16C Block 30 fly on INTERNAL fuel? How fast can that F-15C fly without using its afterburners? Any guess as to what effect afterburner use has on combat radius?:music_whistling: As others have said, shorter legs don't matter all that much anymore since KC-10s, 135s, and 130s will always be available well within range of the target area. RCS is the thing that will have the greatest bearing on whether you live or die in combat, and the F-35 has them all beat in that department. "He who sees first, lives longest." :)

[GGTharos]

Uhm, 'slow top speed'? Are you aware of aircraft using 'top speed' for anything these days?

 

The F-35 and F-22 have HIGH AVERAGE speed, half again or more on top of what -other- aircraft have, which means they -will- get on target faster than other aircraft. Get your stuff right.

[TucksonSonny]

LOL Konkussion, I agree....who cares about an bunch of planes that can travel all that distance just to get shot down LOL! Plus has anyone heard of in flight refueling? There is always a tanker nearby if the mission is that important.

 

Ok let’s take Iran as a mission example (Hypothetical:D ).

Iran is the seventeenth-largest country in the world. Its area roughly equals the size of the United Kingdom, France, Spain, and Germany combined, one-fifth the size of the United States or roughly the size of the state of Alaska.

Maximum range does matter.

[Guest IguanaKing]

Hmmm...how far is Balad AB from command and control assets in Iran? How far is Bagram AB from those same assets on the other border? Can anyone say "strategic positioning"? :D

[sp0nge]

F-35 pit??

 

 

[Shaman]

F-35 pit??

 

 

 

I read once somewhere that the idea of HMD and two big touchscreens was dumped because of some reasons. That's why I asked.

[GGTharos]

Apparently they're using three screens right now, don't know if its touch or MFD type.

 

Touch screens are maintenance-intensive. If you lose the touch screen, you lose all functions - you don't just lose the ability to press one button for one MFD.

[sp0nge]

...ugh...that would suck 2 lose everythin:P

 

haha

[Guest IguanaKing]

Apparently they're using three screens right now, don't know if its touch or MFD type.

 

Touch screens are maintenance-intensive. If you lose the touch screen, you lose all functions - you don't just lose the ability to press one button for one MFD.

 

Not to mention the fact that a touch screen is harder than hell to use effectively in turbulence. :D

[Pilotasso]

F-16C Block 30:

Range: 3,200+ km

 

 

Not a chance. The manual I have says combat range to be about 1000 miles with 3 external tanks. Ferry range would be twice that.

 

I also find the numbers for the other aircraft to be suspicious. Specialy about the F-22 having the same range as the falcon... O.o

[Guest IguanaKing]

I agree, Pilotasso. I guess it all depends on where you get your info. On the internet, its entirely possible he saw that somewhere. Another distinction that is important, when dealing in the Imperial measurement system, is whether or not it is statute or nautical miles. But, again, Google can be a good friend, but it can also feed you a bunch of BS. Afterall...at least one person on this site believes that C-130s regularly operate between 28,000 and 34,000 feet. Heh...I almost shot beer out of my nose when I read that last weekend...I laughed so hard. :D

[Kula66]

Not such a bad looking a/c ... thank goodness the Boeing monstrosity didn't win - that thing was almost as ugly as the 25T!

[TucksonSonny]

Not a chance. The manual I have says combat range to be about 1000 miles with 3 external tanks. Ferry range would be twice that.

 

I also find the numbers for the other aircraft to be suspicious. Specialy about the F-22 having the same range as the falcon... O.o

 

About the F-16 there was indeed a mistake made (bad Wikipedia info)

Anyway there is of course Ferry range and combat range.

 

F-16CG Block 40/42 has a 1740 nm ferry range.

F-16I has a 1,151 miles combat range (1,852 km)

 

The F-16I was developed on the basis of the F-16ES [Enhanced Strategic] single-seat and two-seat, long-range interdictor F-16 proposal. This configuraiton was developed in November 1993 in response to Israeli preference for the F-15I Eagle. The F-16ES featured additional fuel in one 1,136 liter (300 US gallon; 250 Imp gallon) centerline tank and two wing tanks, each 2,271 litre (600 US gallons; 500 Imp gallons), as well as two conformal tanks. The combat radius extended to in excess of 1,000 nautical miles (1,852 km; 1,151 miles). The F-16ES was not purchased at that time, but the conformal tanks were developed as retrofit option for existing F-16s.

 

Anyhow you guys can always correct me if I am wrong! That is the purpose of a forum right?;)

I almost forget the typhoon …

Ef-2000 (Typhoon)

Ferry range (Überführungsreichweite): 3700 km (2000 NM)

[TucksonSonny]

 

I also find the numbers for the other aircraft to be suspicious. Specialy about the F-22 having the same range as the falcon... O.o

 

Indeed it was combat range for the 22.

 

The USAF has officially said that the (clean configuration) ferry range of the F-22 raptor is 1,499 nm/ 2.776 km, a Specific Range of 0.082 nm/lb at Mach 0.8 with 2,500 lbs recovery fuel would give this ability. With drop tanks at Mach 0.9 the range would be 2,700nm+ / 5.000 km+.