While I’m on the topic of the F-35, LockMart produced a new video for the F-35 UK delivery ceremony on July 19, 2012. Most people think the inspiration for the name Lightning II is the Lockheed’s own WWII fighter, the P-38 Lightning. But that’s only part of the story, LockMart’s Tier 1 partner in developing the F-35 is BAE. And BAE evolved out of the earlier BAC, which produced the English Electric Lightning Mach 2 interceptor early in the Cold War. When they were selecting the name Lightning II was chosen to honor both the P-38 and BAC Lightning, and to benefit from the pride and nostalgia on both sides of the Atlantic, of course. There are also references to the Harrier, which was of British origin and later adopted by the US Marine Corps.

Though I’m not sure I’d go with “Pandora’s Box of excitement” as a statement of praise; it seems like a bit of a mixed message. Pandora’s Box was not a good thing. I suppose you could argue the development difficulties and delays the F-35 has run into are the Pandora’s Box… but that’s strained.

Boeing shared their highlights from Day 3:

Eurocopter shared this video of their EC175 helicopter flight display:

Airbus had a few things to share as well. Like their own Day 3 highlights:

Sharklets and the A320 NEO:

Alternative fuel efforts:

And this one is interesting, IMHO. Airbus and the low-cost airline EasyJet are working together on a new sensor, dubbed AVOID, designed to allow airliners to sense and, well, avoid volcanic ash clouds. You may recall that not long ago air travel in Europe was royally snarled by a volcanic ash cloud from an Icelandic eruption. Since there is no good way to detect the actual cloud and avoid it, and volcanic ash can do serious damage to an airliner (from stripping paint to sandblasting the windscreen opaque to filling the engines with glass and shutting them down), today authorities are forced to use conservative computer models of where the ash might be and shut down large swaths of airspace. If aircraft could sense and avoid the ash on their own the impact of eruptions on air travel could be greatly reduced, as not as much airspace would need to be closed to traffic. It is still early days of course, so this may not pan out. (I do like the way the test rig has been mounted – through the window openings.)

UPDATE: Coming a little late Lockheed Martin share this video from the show with three of the F-35 test pilots describing their perspective on the aircraft:

The most interesting part of this, to me, is the social media Q&A NASA conducted in conjunction with the arrival of the Orion. I think it is far more interesting and informative than the usual official presentations:

And speaking of those official presentations, there’s one of those too if you really want to watch it:

And a bonus – test pilot Pete Wilson discusses flying the STOVL F-35B:

First and foremost is this one, from the opening of the show. The sole flying AVRO Vulcan, XH588, flying in formation with the UK’s Red Arrow demonstration team. Just awesome, nothing else looks like the Vulcan. I think it is similar to the SR-71 Blackbird in that it just looks like something out of time, completely radical for its day.

And since EADS is good enough to sponsor XH588, I’ll give them the next spot. Besides, this is kind of interesting – Additive Layer Manufacturing. Which is basically a kind of 3D printing on industrial scale. ALM, and other such techniques, have the potential to radically alter manufacturing. Eventually ALM or some form of 3D printing will probably be in most homes, but first it will bring big changes to industrial processes.

I posted a couple of GE’s videos in my last post, on the CFMI CFM56 & LEAP-X, since they directly related to the LEAP-X, but they also touted the success of their new GEnx engine, powering the B787 & B747-8.

Bell Helicopter has this short video promoting the Bell-Boeing V-22 Osprey. I basically never get tired of watching it do its thing.

Airbus shared their highlights from the first two days of the show:

And if you thought the seeing the giant A380 yanked around the sky in that last clip was impressive, check out the full uncut version:

I found this one interesting. Heeding the call of nature on a flight last week, and noticing for the nth time how small aircraft lavatories are (I’m 6’6″ and generally a big guy), I found myself wondering just how the disabled passengers, or what it seems the industry refers to as Persons with Reduced Mobility (PRM), deal with it. Not very well I’d expect. But Airbus has an interesting new A320 lavatory design called Space-Flex PRM which will help. Basically there are two adjoining lavatories at the rear, as there generally are, but the walls are moving partitions. The flight crew can reconfigure them into one larger lavatory, which can accommodate a passenger in a wheelchair (presumably one of those narrow aircraft-aisle compatible ones). I think that’s an interesting concept, but we’ll see how many airlines adopt it. TAM Airlines is the first.

Boeing also has their highlights from the first day – they posted one for the second day, but for some reason it is private now they’ve reposted day 2:

They’re also touting their environmental designs:

Lockheed Martin jumped into the video fray as well:

They also released this look back at past LockMart Farnborough flight demos – not enough this year perhaps:

There will probably be more videos to come as the show continues. I’ll sort through them, so you don’t have to.

Additionally, the F-35C carrier variant made it’s first night flight on June 13 from PAX River. There’s some nice afterburner shock diamond shots in here.

If you’re for or against the program in general, I think we can still agree the F-35 is an impressive aircraft. Hopefully it will live up to its promise. Keep in mind that a number of aircraft considered legendary today struggled during their test programs as well.

It is based on the maple seed. For anyone who’s lived in an area where maple trees grow, you’ve probably seen these seeds falling from the trees. They’re asymmetrical wings which spiral gently down, and can travel for a fair distance on the wind. Lockheed Martin has used this design with motor to allow for sustained flight, and software provides control. The whole vehicle spins, including the camera, but the operator sees a steady picture thanks to image processing. It’s a radical design, and I think it looks pretty cool. It is certainly different from the typical fixed- or rotary-wing designs.

And now the videos:

And while we’re on the topic of the F-35, the first flight of the F-35B out of Eglin AFB in Florida occurred on May 22. The flight marks the beginning of Marine Corps F-35B operations at Eglin.

Also in F-35 related video, the Naval Air Systems Command released this one on the F-35B Manned Flight Simulator:

And their May 2012 edition of NAVAIR Airwaves features a segment on the F-35 starting at the 1:37 mark:

While I’m posting Lockheed Martin related videos, here’s a non-F-35 video – the LCS3 Fort Worth strutting her stuff:

Also founded in 1912 was the Glenn L. Martin Company. In 1961 they merged with the American-Marietta Corporation to become the Martin Marietta Corporation. After years of ups and downs, mergers, buyouts, spin-off, etc., Lockheed and Martin Marietta merged in 1995, creating Lockheed Martin. This year marks the 100th anniversary of Lockheed Martin – doubly so as both parent corporations were founded the same year.

To mark the anniversary they’ve released the following video:

Watching the video it is hard not to note the many significant developments along the way – the Vega, the P-38 Lightning, the SR-71 Blackbird, the Trident SLBM, the C-130 Hercules, the B-26 Marauder, the U-2, the C-5 Galaxy, the F-117 Nighthawk, the F-22 Raptor, the F-16 Fighting Falcon, the F-35 Lightning II, the Titan I, II, III & IV ICBM/launchers, the Littoral Combat Ship, the Orion space capsule, and a lot more. Not to mention all of the milestones not shown in the video like the P-80 Shooting Star, the F-104 Starfighter, the Electra, the P-3 Orion, C-141 Starlifter, the Constellation and Super Constellation, the L-1011 TriStar, the Atlas series of ICBM/launchers, etc. That’s a packed 100 years.

The UK originally planned to purchase the F-35B and they ordered two aircraft from LRIP (Low-Rate Initial Production) – BK-1 & BK-2. They later decided to switch to the F-35C CV (Carrier Variant) and the third LRIP aircraft was switched to that model, and dubbed CK-1. Though now it looks like the UK may be switching back to the F-35B. That all aside, this is the first flight of an F-35 produced for an international partner.

And second is a high speed fly-by by the F-35C:

I love the condensation that forms around the fuselage due to the pressure differentials.

Also, I’d added this video as an edit to my previous post, but as some of you may have already seen the post before it was added you may have missed it. In it test pilot Phil Oestricher relates the story of the unplanned first flight of the YF-16 – Flight Zero:

Lots of history there, but I still wish the F-16XL had gone into production. It is just a damn cool looking design.

EDIT: Lockheed released this video today, of test pilot Phil Oestricher telling the story of the unplanned first flight of the YF-16 – Flight Zero:

They’d also flown the F-35A with external stores, following up on the early flight of the F-35B with external stores that I posted previously:

And the Naval Air Systems Command posted a very brief video of the first steam catapult launch of the F-35C at NAS Patuxent River last November 4th:

They also released a video touting their offering for the Navy’s next generation radar, the Air and Missile Defense Radar (AMDR). It is a pretty computer animation, showing off the planned capabilities.

Several concepts were floated, and in the end it was decided to convert these four boats into SSGNs, carrying up to 154 Tomahawk cruise missiles instead of the 24 Trident ballistic missiles. 22 of the missile tubes have been retrofitted with a vertical launch system that can hold up to seven Tomahawks each, or other ordinance (7 x 22 = 154). The other two tubes have been converted into swimmer lockout chambers for the deployment and recovering of SEAL teams.

One of the concepts for the missile tubes was for a submarine launched UAV which could support special warfare operations, perform reconnaissance and targeting, etc. The missile tubes are 44 feet long, but only seven feet in diameter. This necessitated creating a folding design so the UAV could be packed into the tube yet still have enough wing area. Since a submarine’s greatest asset is stealth the UAV needed to be launched while the sub remained submerged. This required a design that was water tight – including the engine, corrosion resistant – salt water after all, and crush resistant – lots of force from the water pressure at launch depth.

Lockheed Martin’s design features an oddly cranked wing which gives the Cormorant more wing area while keeping for a compact size while folded. For launch the MPUAV would have been raised from the tube, then unfolded and released to rise to the surface under natural buoyancy while the sub slipped away. The MPUAV would pop clear of the surface like a cork and rocket boosters would propel it into the sky. Once clear of the water the engine inlet and exhaust doors would open and the turbofan engine would fire to sustain flight.

At the completion of its mission the Cormorant would have flown back to a rendezvous location, sealed itself back up, and parachuted into the water. A remotely operated vehicle (ROV) would swim up from the sub with a cable and attach it to a cable deployed from the MPUAV upon landing. The MPUAV would then be winched back to its cradle and stowed back in the tube.

It is a very clever and unique design, and under the DARPA program they build models and testing the launch and recovery procedure. It is all pretty interesting stuff, and seen in the video. Check it out:

They were pitching the F-35 to potential customers at the Singapore Airshow in February:

They made the first flights of the F-35B with external stores, including external stores pylons, inert AIM-9X Sidewinder middles, and a centerline 25mm gun pod. And before you comment, yes, carrying external stores destroys stealth. The F-35, and F-22, can operate with internal stores only for ‘first day of the war’, all-up stealth. But once air defenses have been suppressed, or in uncontested environments, carrying stores externally allows the aircraft to carry more ordinance to accomplish more on a given mission. They’re also used for external tanks for ferry flights, etc.

And the Marines celebrated the arrival of the F-35B, and the USAF the first flight of the F-35A, at Eglin AFB in Florida:

The US Navy’s Naval Air Systems Command also released their own 2011 Year In Review video:

As well as one commemorating the first flight of an F-35C for the UK:

And, just because, here’s a bonus video of F-16s from the 149th Fighter Wing of the Texas Air National Guard out of Lackland AFB in San Antonio:

Well, I’m still catching up a bit on some of my RSS feeds from my honeymoon last month and one of those feeds is Lockheed Martin’s YouTube channel, where I discovered they’ve posted several videos that nicely explain these improvements. They cover NextGen Flight Services, which is the name for the FAA’s plans to upgrade the US air traffic control system. I think these videos are easy to understand and really do a good job in explaining the benefits.

I’m amused by how closely these videos match what I wrote in my earlier post.

Afghanistan has very little in the way of infrastructure, especially roads, and a lot of rugged terrain. When resupply by ground convoy is even possible it is risky, as convoy’s are prime targets for ambush and IEDs. Helicopters can fly supplies into areas without roads, or just avoid most attacks by flying over them. But they still expose air crews to risk, especially during arrival and departure as they’re closer to the ground and within range of small arms. Not to mention it is tedious work flying back and forth, shuffling cargo. Just the kind of risky, monotonous task that machines excel at.

The K-MAX has been successfully flying sling-loaded cargo to troops in forward operating positions in Afghanistan, with an 87% mission availability rate – which is very good in such an environment. For any system, let alone a developmental one. And it operates day or night – darkness means nothing to a computer. For human pilots night flying is much riskier. The K-MAX doesn’t care, it is all the same to the machine.

The system looks very impressive.