Lockheed Martin F-35 Makes Near Vertical Landing
Posted by Keelan on March 12th, 2010
Disclosure: Lockheed Martin is a Thornley Fallis client and I manage the account.
Yesterday afternoon, the first Lockheed Martin F-35B Lightning II stealth fighter passed overhead at 40 knots (46 mph) prior to making a slow, near-vertical landing at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland. The flight was one of the last missions before the aircraft’s first vertical landing, and confirmed the jet’s power and controllability at very low speeds. The aircraft’s short takeoff/vertical landing (STOVL) propulsion system generates more than 41,000 pounds of vertical thrust, and enables airspeeds from zero to Mach 1.6.
