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A photograph of a section of the memorial in London.
The Battle of Britain Monument in London is a superb monument to The Few - commemorating those people who took part in this vital battle of the Second World War.
Admiration.
French Pilots looking on as a F-16 from the Alabama ANG, preps for taxi ahead of a major storm.
The sun sets behind an Australian Lockheed Martin F-35A "Lighting II" at Luke Air Force Base, Ariz., June 27, 2018. The first Australian F-35 arrived at Luke AFB in December, 2014. Currently, six Australian F-35's are assigned to the 61st Fighter Squadron where their pilots train alongside U.S. Air Force pilots. *Editor’s Note: The reflection in this photo was manufactured by the photographer using a specific technique outside of the lens before capturing the image.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Lockheed Martin F-35 "Lightning II" is a family of single-seat, single-engine, all-weather, stealth, fifth-generation, multirole combat aircraft, designed for ground-attack and air-superiority missions. It is built by Lockheed Martin and many subcontractors, including Northrop Grumman, Pratt & Whitney, and BAE Systems.
The F-35 has three main models: the conventional takeoff and landing F-35A (CTOL), the short take-off and vertical-landing F-35B (STOVL), and the catapult-assisted take-off but arrested recovery, carrier-based F-35C (CATOBAR). The F-35 descends from the Lockheed Martin X-35, the design that was awarded the "Joint Strike Fighter" (JSF) program over the competing Boeing X-32. The official "Lightning II" name has proven deeply unpopular and USAF pilots have nicknamed it Panther, instead.
The United States principally funds F-35 development, with additional funding from other NATO members and close U.S. allies, including the United Kingdom, Italy, Australia, Canada, Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands, and formerly Turkey. These funders generally receive subcontracts to manufacture components for the aircraft; for example, Turkey was the sole supplier of several F-35 parts until its removal from the program in July 2019. Several other countries have ordered, or are considering ordering, the aircraft.
As the largest and most expensive military program ever, the F-35 became the subject of much scrutiny and criticism in the U.S. and in other countries. In 2013 and 2014, critics argued that the plane was "plagued with design flaws", with many blaming the procurement process in which Lockheed was allowed "to design, test, and produce the F-35 all at the same time," instead of identifying and fixing "defects before firing up its production line". By 2014, the program was "$163 billion over budget [and] seven years behind schedule". Critics also contend that the program's high sunk costs and political momentum make it "too big to kill".
The F-35 first flew on 15 December 2006. In July 2015, the United States Marines declared its first squadron of F-35B fighters ready for deployment. However, the DOD-based durability testing indicated the service life of early-production F-35B aircraft is well under the expected 8,000 flight hours, and may be as low as 2,100 flight hours. Lot 9 and later aircraft include design changes but service life testing has yet to occur. The U.S. Air Force declared its first squadron of F-35As ready for deployment in August 2016. The U.S. Navy declared its first F-35Cs ready in February 2019. In 2018, the F-35 made its combat debut with the Israeli Air Force.
The U.S. stated plan is to buy 2,663 F-35s, which will provide the bulk of the crewed tactical airpower of the U.S. Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps in coming decades. Deliveries of the F-35 for the U.S. military are scheduled until 2037 with a projected service life up to 2070.
Development
F-35 development started in 1992 with the origins of the "Joint Strike Fighter" (JSF) program and was to culminate in full production by 2018. The X-35 first flew on 24 October 2000 and the F-35A on 15 December 2006.
The F-35 was developed to replace most US fighter jets with the variants of a single design that would be common to all branches of the military. It was developed in co-operation with a number of foreign partners, and, unlike the F-22 "Raptor", intended to be available for export. Three variants were designed: the F-35A (CTOL), the F-35B (STOVL), and the F-35C (CATOBAR). Despite being intended to share most of their parts to reduce costs and improve maintenance logistics, by 2017, the effective commonality was only 20%. The program received considerable criticism for cost overruns during development and for the total projected cost of the program over the lifetime of the jets.
By 2017, the program was expected to cost $406.5 billion over its lifetime (i.e. until 2070) for acquisition of the jets, and an additional $1.1 trillion for operations and maintenance. A number of design deficiencies were alleged, such as: carrying a small internal payload; performance inferior to the aircraft being replaced, particularly the F-16; lack of safety in relying on a single engine; and flaws such as the vulnerability of the fuel tank to fire and the propensity for transonic roll-off (wing drop). The possible obsolescence of stealth technology was also criticized.
Design
Overview
Although several experimental designs have been developed since the 1960s, such as the unsuccessful Rockwell XFV-12, the F-35B is to be the first operational supersonic STOVL stealth fighter. The single-engine F-35 resembles the larger twin-engined Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor, drawing design elements from it. The exhaust duct design was inspired by the General Dynamics Model 200, proposed for a 1972 supersonic VTOL fighter requirement for the Sea Control Ship.
Lockheed Martin has suggested that the F-35 could replace the USAF's F-15C/D fighters in the air-superiority role and the F-15E "Strike Eagle" in the ground-attack role. It has also stated the F-35 is intended to have close- and long-range air-to-air capability second only to that of the F-22 "Raptor", and that the F-35 has an advantage over the F-22 in basing flexibility and possesses "advanced sensors and information fusion".
Testifying before the House Appropriations Committee on 25 March 2009, acquisition deputy to the assistant secretary of the Air Force, Lt. Gen. Mark D. "Shack" Shackelford, stated that the F-35 is designed to be America's "premier surface-to-air missile killer, and is uniquely equipped for this mission with cutting-edge processing power, synthetic aperture radar integration techniques, and advanced target recognition".
Improvements
Ostensible improvements over past-generation fighter aircraft include:
Durable, low-maintenance stealth technology, using structural fiber mat instead of the high-maintenance coatings of legacy stealth platforms
Integrated avionics and sensor fusion that combine information from off- and on-board sensors to increase the pilot's situational awareness and improve target identification and weapon delivery, and to relay information quickly to other command and control (C2) nodes
High-speed data networking including IEEE 1394b and Fibre Channel (Fibre Channel is also used on Boeing's "Super Hornet".
The Autonomic Logistics Global Sustainment, Autonomic Logistics Information System (ALIS), and Computerized maintenance management system to help ensure the aircraft can remain operational with minimal maintenance manpower The Pentagon has moved to open up the competitive bidding by other companies. This was after Lockheed Martin stated that instead of costing 20% less than the F-16 per flight hour, the F-35 would actually cost 12% more. Though the ALGS is intended to reduce maintenance costs, the company disagrees with including the cost of this system in the aircraft ownership calculations. The USMC has implemented a workaround for a cyber vulnerability in the system. The ALIS system currently requires a shipping-container load of servers to run, but Lockheed is working on a more portable version to support the Marines' expeditionary operations.
Electro-hydrostatic actuators run by a power-by-wire flight-control system
A modern and updated flight simulator, which may be used for a greater fraction of pilot training to reduce the costly flight hours of the actual aircraft
Lightweight, powerful lithium-ion batteries to provide power to run the control surfaces in an emergency
Structural composites in the F-35 are 35% of the airframe weight (up from 25% in the F-22). The majority of these are bismaleimide and composite epoxy materials. The F-35 will be the first mass-produced aircraft to include structural nanocomposites, namely carbon nanotube-reinforced epoxy. Experience of the F-22's problems with corrosion led to the F-35 using a gap filler that causes less galvanic corrosion to the airframe's skin, designed with fewer gaps requiring filler and implementing better drainage. The relatively short 35-foot wingspan of the A and B variants is set by the F-35B's requirement to fit inside the Navy's current amphibious assault ship parking area and elevators; the F-35C's longer wing is considered to be more fuel efficient.
Costs
A U.S. Navy study found that the F-35 will cost 30 to 40% more to maintain than current jet fighters, not accounting for inflation over the F-35's operational lifetime. A Pentagon study concluded a $1 trillion maintenance cost for the entire fleet over its lifespan, not accounting for inflation. The F-35 program office found that as of January 2014, costs for the F-35 fleet over a 53-year lifecycle was $857 billion. Costs for the fighter have been dropping and accounted for the 22 percent life cycle drop since 2010. Lockheed stated that by 2019, pricing for the fifth-generation aircraft will be less than fourth-generation fighters. An F-35A in 2019 is expected to cost $85 million per unit complete with engines and full mission systems, inflation adjusted from $75 million in December 2013.
This is an anonymously published postcard showing the view in Piccadilly Circus looking east towards Coventry Street. There is a double bill playing at the London Pavilion, “Mysterious Island” is a science fiction adventure loosely based on the Jules Verne novel “The Mysterious Island” in which Captain Nemo and the Nautilus make an appearance. It starred Michael Craig, Joan Greenwood and stop go animated characters by Ray Harryhausen, the film is regularly repeated on British Television as is “The Pirates of Blood River”, a British made film starring the American actor Kerwin Mathews and a cast of British actors including Christopher Lee, Oliver Reed and Peter Arne; the double bill ran from 14th July until 19th July 1962. I was aware of Peter Arne long before he was bludgeoned to death in his Knightsbridge flat in August 1983. I had read that he was a Battle of Britain fighter pilot and that he was born in Kuala Lumpur of a French-Swiss mother and an American father and became an actor in the early 1950s playing small parts in low budget British films. He was also a promiscuous homosexual who picked up young men at among other places, Victoria Embankment Gardens where he met an Italian school teacher who later murdered him at his flat just behind Harrods. The school teacher committed suicide several days after the murder by throwing himself into the Thames. On the right next to the Criterion Theatre is a branch of “Dolcis Shoes”, the company can trace its origins back to 1863 and a stall in Woolwich Market where John Upson later opened a shop called “The Great Boot Provider”. The Company became “Dolcis” in 1920 and it is believed the name was acquired from a brand of Swiss socks. At their height, “Dolcis” had 65 shops and 150 concessions in other stores, the company is now owned by the Jacobson Group. The advertisement underneath the Wrigley advert is for “Youngers Scotch Ales”, not to be confused with Scottish Ales which tended to be more like a Pale Ale. Scotch Ales were a traditionally heavy beer which William Younger & Company had been brewing a form of in Edinburgh since 1778. At the time of the advertisement the Company was owned by Scottish and Newcastle.
Heat and Haze!
A Spanish Air Force Typhoon returns from a mission, distorting the already hazy sky with the heat from it's engines.
MARINE CORPS AIR STATION MIRAMAR, Calif. - A McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing) F/A-18 "Hornet" with Marine Fighter Attack Squadron (VMFA) 314 takes off en route to a simulated dog fight against the Air Force’s F-16 "Fighting Falcon's" with the 310th Fighter Squadron at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, Calif., March 16. The two squadrons are training their pilots in basic fighting maneuvers from March 16 to March 24 at MCAS Miramar.
Flying around Pat Bay and YYJ today - The McDonnell Douglas CF-18 Hornet (official military designation CF-188) is a Royal Canadian Air Force.
Waving to the Crowd
This F-35 pilot acknowledges the photogs and family members, out on the approach at Luke AFB.
Jacqui flanked either side by two airmen, (Paul Watson and Shaun Carter), at Tutbury Castle's 1940's event, 2022.