Will- Pretty much splashed across all the newspapers for a decade or so. Gay? Sure. Transexual? Not so fast. In our day that surely would have earned you a boot up the rear end. Nowadays no telling what you end up with up your rear end. Happy to be an old fart and have missed the new military.
Interestingly, a new coin commemorating the centenary of the Royal Air Force has three aircraft on it: a Camel, a Spitfire and a Lightning II! You would think that they would have wanted a British-built aircraft for that third space. I guess this points out how much the F-35 means for the RAF's future.
Taz: I know. I was joking...couldn’t find the winking dude icon. I almost said “so it didn’t work out for you when you when you tried it with your boss?” No right answer to that one...smiling. Hannibal
There is a lot of UK in the F-35. Most of the aircrew life support systems, display tech, and many other cockpit systems were designed and tested in the UK. F-35 and Typhoon Anti-G-suits and helmets/displays were a very big part of what I did at Fast Jet Test Squadron in the UK. The RAF tested it because it was largely their baby.
Having been in the USAAF 75 years ago, the subject of " queer", as it was called then, or anyone who was too " mommie-ish" soon disappeared. The stigma of deviation then was powerful and those that fit the classification were not tolerated if they were known. We had one oddball in our outfit at Langley that led a double life and we found out about it by a chance comment from another squadron member. He was a bit odd in his dress when he went on leave, medals all over the place, a white silk scarf, 50 mission crush in his cap, and he was only 4ft-13 inches tall but he was a "hero". How he had become one was a mystery but It all came crashing down when he came back from leave with a huge black eye .We found out about it when the other squadron guy told us about his "girl friend" that was a big boy.
My friend and college classmates son was assigned to F-35's last year, not sure which squadron we'll be assigned to. Last time we spoke in Feb, he had probably 10 flights under his belt. Here's a pic of Jim and his son Jon.
Should be a fun aircraft to fly and also very survivable in combat. A bigger engine will help in the future, the far future.
I always thought the B model (VTOL) was a 'nice to have' and not a 'have to have', especially considering the cost, complexity and range. B/VTOL model holds much less fuel and the exhaust from vtol operations will tear up most surfaces, even carrier decks. But, Marines don't want to be left out. Didn't realize how much more 'wing area' the C/carrier model had. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_Martin_F-35_Lightning_II How F-35B Works Jump to 5:20 for 'drivetrain' .
The idea is to move the B close to the front lines, disperse, and increase the # of sorties. Yes it has short legs. However to and from the targets will be less. Fixed airfields and the boats are also vulnerable to attacks - cruise missiles, theater missiles, and drone swarms etc... The U.S. may not have the luxury to operate from fixed forward bases.
. I don't believe anyone would be dumb enough to 'base' a $100 mil dollar fighter near any front line with the missiles and long range artillery available. .
The entire point of the B is to run more sorties closer to the front lines. The uptick in the number of sorties vs the A and C, is to offset the reduction in ordnance and legs. The B running sorties from the boat makes almost no sense in a near-peer adversary conflict. The boat will become increasingly vulnerable as it moves closer to the enemy/front. You are not running sorties ten miles from the front lines. The enemy will not find it easy to locate a single Bravo fifty miles from the front lines. The fixed bases will be hundreds of miles from the front. Any hot conflict will result in the fixed bases immediately coming under attack. Do you believe Kadena and Anderson will not have issues running sustained operations. The CCP has multiple conventional options to stem TACAIR ops. USAF and the Army does not spend enough effort to immediately address theater airfield repair. Zoomies want to wear a silk scarf. Zoomies do not want to put on a Kevlar and jump on a dozer. What about survivability of the Bravo from a dispersed location 50 miles from the front. The jets will be dispersed at different locations. Suwon and Kunsan will also immediately face multiple threats from Kim. The alternative S.K. highway system running fixed wing TACAIR will soon receive a response from Kim. Move the fixed jets to alternate locations? The austere strips will put more strain on airborne tankers as ops will be directed from bases located farther from the front.
Rapid runway repair is practiced at every overseas base. What they can do and how quickly is pretty amazing if you have ever watched it.
