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The first Lockheed Martin F-35B Lightning II short takeoff, vertical landing stealth fighter demonstrated the capability to hover March 17, during a test flight at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md. The flight was a significant test mission leading up to the aircraft’s first vertical landing. It confirmed predictions of the jet’s vertical thrust, stability and control in hovering flight. The flight began with a conventional takeoff before F-35 lead STOVL Pilot Graham Tomlinson initiated conversion to STOVL mode at 200 knots airspeed. He then slowed the aircraft to 60 knots and flew a decelerating approach to a zero airspeed hover at 150 feet above the runway. This marked the first free air hover in the F-35B Lightning II aircraft. Upon reaching zero airspeed, the pilot executed test points to confirm the controllability of the aircraft in the hover. After completing all hover test points, the pilot executed a STOVL landing at 70 knots airspeed. Later in the day, BF-1 performed the first F-35 short takeoff. Matching performance predictions, the F-35B accelerated down the runway in STOVL mode and lifted off at 100 knots using less than 1000 feet of runway. The successful tests are the latest steps in demonstrating the F-35B’s ability to conduct operations from small ships and unprepared fields, enabling expeditionary operations around the world.


Hover craft

The first Lockheed Martin F-35B Lightning II short takeoff, vertical landing stealth fighter demonstrated the capability to hover March 17, during a test flight at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md. The flight was a significant test mission leading up to the aircraft’s first vertical landing. It confirmed predictions of the jet’s vertical thrust, stability and control in hovering flight. The flight began with a conventional takeoff before F-35 lead STOVL Pilot Graham Tomlinson initiated conversion to STOVL mode at 200 knots airspeed. He then slowed the aircraft to 60 knots and flew a decelerating approach to a zero airspeed hover at 150 feet above the runway. This marked the first free air hover in the F-35B Lightning II aircraft. Upon reaching zero airspeed, the pilot executed test points to confirm the controllability of the aircraft in the hover. After completing all hover test points, the pilot executed a STOVL landing at 70 knots airspeed. Later in the day, BF-1 performed the first F-35 short takeoff. Matching performance predictions, the F-35B accelerated down the runway in STOVL mode and lifted off at 100 knots using less than 1000 feet of runway. The successful tests are the latest steps in demonstrating the F-35B’s ability to conduct operations from small ships and unprepared fields, enabling expeditionary operations around the world.

Related Imagery
The T-38 Northrop Talon supersonic jet trainer was tested in AEDC’s 16T in 1958. The first T-38 flew in 1959; it is still operational with the Air Education and Training Command. (AEDC file photo)
An exercise evaluation team staged a base exercise training scenario of a C-130 Hercules aircraft crash at Arnold’s airfield. (Photo by Rick Goodfriend)
Murray King, Arnold AFB Airfield manager, directs the C-130 aircraft delivering the Little Rock AFB civic leaders. Inset, AEDC Commander Col. Art Huber welcomes Brig. Gen. Rowayne A. Schatz to Arnold. (Photo by Rick Goodfriend)
Arnold Engineering Development Center firefighters meet with a crew of a Tennessee Air National Guard WC-130 that landed at Arnold AFB last week. Firefighters received familiarization briefings on the aircraft while it was on the ground. C-130s from the Tennessee Air National Guard 118th Airlift Wing in Nashville regularly use Arnold’s airfield for training and use a drop zone on base for practice air drops. The 118th will soon be starting a new crew training mission using the WC-130 aircraft.
A model of a GBU-39 Small Diameter Bomb (SDB) mounted on a sting is separated from the F-35 Lightning II aircraft during a test in Arnold Engineering Development Center’s (AEDC) four-foot transonic wind tunnel. (Photos by Rick Goodfriend)
A model of a GBU-39 Small Diameter Bomb (SDB) mounted on a sting is separated from the F-35 Lightning II aircraft during a test in Arnold Engineering Development Center’s (AEDC) four-foot transonic wind tunnel. (Photos by Rick Goodfriend)
From left, Monique Purdon and Chris Hetreed, F-35 Lightning II store separation team engineers with Lockheed Martin, examine a GBU-31 Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) in the test section of Arnold Engineering Development Center's (AEDC) four-foot transonic wind tunnel. (Photo by Rick Goodfriend)
Aerospace Testing Alliance (ATA) Outside Machinist Jim Lynch makes adjustments to a model of a GBU-31 Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) before F-35 Lightning II store separation testing resumed in Arnold Engineering Development's (AEDC) four-foot transonic wind tunnel. ATA is the support contractor at AEDC. (Photo by Rick Goodfriend)
This F-4C Phantom displayed at Gate 2 will be dedicated Nov. 27 in the memory of Col. Lawrence H. Golberg and Maj. Patrick E. Wynne. On Aug. 8, 1966 the 555th Tactical Fighter Squadron, 8th Tactical Fighter Wing, lost F-4C 63-7560, call sign ‘Ozark’ following a Rolling Thunder Armed Reconnaissance mission over North Vietnam. After delivering their ordnance against trucks, the aircraft was beginning the run home when hit by anti-aircraft fire and crashed into the jungle. Colonel Golberg and Major Wynne were listed as “Missing in Action” until 1977 when their remains were located and returned to the United States. (AEDC Photo)
The F-15 static display aircraft at Arnold Air Force Base's Main Gate will be dedicated Aug. 9 in honor of Maj. Jim Duricy who was killed when he was forced to eject at high speed as the F-15 he piloted crashed into the Gulf of Mexico April 30, 2002. He was assigned to the 40th Flight Test Squadron, Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. (Photo by David Housch)
Air Reserve paratroopers from the 861st Quartermaster Company in Nashville, Tenn., jump out of a Tennessee Air National Guard C-130 Hercules over Arnold Air Force Base, Tenn., April 1 during a mock-deployment exercise. (Photo by Claude Morse)
This F-14D Tomcat static display at Arnold Air Force Base's Main Gate entrance will be dedicated March 30 in honor of Navy Lt. Kara Hultgreen, the first Navy's first carrier-based combat fighter pilot. The lieutenant was killed in a Tomcat crash in 1994. (Photo by David Housch)