Hi everyone not being a jet buff I saw on yesterdays news a snippet about the replacement for the RN Sea Harrier, basically said it might be too heavy to operate from carriers?
About right for our MOD but I am interested as to which aircraft it actually is?
All I can remember is the ID on the tailplane X -35, who makes it and which country?
Awaiting in anticipation
Nick
the X-35 is a technology demonstrator and it (or at least some of its technology) should evolve into whatever may replace the Sea Harrier.
Thanks just thought it was ironic that AGAIN we seem to be able to buy stuff that won’t/ partly works re the Chinook debacle that can’t fly in bad weather what was it some £450 million [D)]'s
Am I right in saying that its made by Lockheed?
Nick
Could this aircraft be the new Joint Strike Fighter, the F-35? It’s a stealthy aircraft
that’s going to used by both the U.S.A.F. & the U.S. Navy. I think it also may have a vectored thrust system similar to the Harrier that may help it with short take offs
& landings as well as radical in flight maneuvers. Not sure about this last part,
though. Panda makes a 1/48 model of it. Anybody out there got the scoop on the F-35?
The F-35 is a Lockheed Martin program. It is a development of the X-35, which won a flyoff against the Boeing X-32, the ugliest aircraft in recent memory. First flight is scheduled for 2006. It comes in three flavors for the US forces - CTOL fighter to replace the F-16, carrier-based fighter with tailhook and folding wings, and VSTOL fighter to replace the Harrier in the Marine Corps. At this point in its design phase it is overweight, particularly in the case of the VSTOL variant. Several countries have lined up to participate in the program and buy aircraft ala the F-16. The British Harriers are planned to be replaced by the VSTOL F-35 version in 2012…
Right now I am working on both of Panda’s F-35’s the Marine and the Air Force. Pretty decent kits, the only bad thing is that the Air Force version is molded with the fan opening just like the Marine version and you have to cover it up which has alot of gaps when you do that. Now as to the Navy version is actually longer and wider than the Air Force and the Marine versions as to what the Lockheed/Martin website last said. From what I last heard that the Belgian Air Force was helping in the design process since they want something that could replace the aging F-16’s. Hope this helps out with your question. Wish I could find the time to complete both of them and move on to the three P-40’s that I have been dying to get to. But with 3 kids, two playing softball and one playing baseball pretty much on the same days at three different locations I really dont have the time. [V][V] Oh well at least they dont play all summer.
The STOVL version of the X-35 and F-35 has a front fan , which is an engineering marvel, for added lift in VSTOL flight. It is shaft-driven by the propulsion engine, rated for almost 30,000 shaft horsepower, and incorporates a clutch so it can be shut down in flight. It also provides flight control function of pitch control (variable thrust) in vertical flight and a vectoring nozzle to provide forward thrust in transition to conventional flight.
The nozzle of the main engine is vectorable by means of two 45 degree joints that rotate to achieve a 90 degree change of thrust direction. There are also roll control nozzles in the wing about 1/3 of the way out.
The configuration is brilliant for a multi-configuration fighter, since when the front fan and the other VSTOL required hardware are deleted, the result is a conventional fighter with virtually no VSTOL penalty. The major risk was whether the front fan would work as designed and hang together. Fortunately for Lockheed Martin, it did.
I’m in the process of converting the 1/72 Italeri kit from the mockup/predesign configuration it represents to the X-35 VSTOL demonstrator. It’s going to be awhile, since almost every part needs to be modified or replaced…
Nick
The posts above have pretty much covered the whole F-35 project (Guys, I’m impressed! [:0])
Go to this site:
http://aviationnow.com/avnow/
Search for JSF, F-35, and you’ll get a bunch of articles on the details, but as I 've said, the experts here (above) have pretty much covered it.
Hope this helps,
stinger
Not much that I can add to what’s already been mentioned, except that I’ll be surprised if the F-35 makes it into service before I retire from active duty…
Actually, the F-35, the EFV, and the V-22 are all programs that are supposed to “transform” the USMC for the next century.
i would be suprised to see this plane in raf colours , you bet the politicians will say its got to have a british engine , so the cost will go through the roof , remember when we bought the phantoms have a f4j for 1 million , oh no got to have british this that and the other , er ok then that’ll be 3 million please ok then , this is what will happen
Yes, I do remember the F-4K…
