Videos - F35's in "Mach Loop" - Wales

[Winston]

[video=youtube;DrnkmjxiEdY]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrnkmjxiEdY[/video]

[video=youtube;Hc3mc0igHzU]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hc3mc0igHzU[/video]

[video=youtube;sEkR64JL4aU]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEkR64JL4aU[/video]

 

[TALON]

Star Wars Canyon-The JEDI Transition XI


[video=youtube;4zdrFKiGSXI]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zdrFKiGSXI&t=213s[/video]

 

[Viperfixr]

Go Lightning II! She's an amazing jet & set of capabilities. So cool to see it doing things like this, looking and acting like a real, grown-up fighter!

 

[cobra1336]

Once a year the Joint Base near me has an air show. The Blue Angles or Thunderbirds fly. They use the farm field next to me to use as a spot to start thier formations. They fly so low over my house that the tree line bends as they pass. Love it, I get the best seat in the house, my front porch. When you hear them coming you need to look well ahead of the sound they are that fast. Get to meet some of the fly boys at a local tavern after the show is over. Really cool.

 

[Winston]

Star Wars Canyon-The JEDI Transition XI


[video=youtube;4zdrFKiGSXI]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zdrFKiGSXI&t=213s[/video]

Nice! The F35 looks really slick from every angle but directly from the side. Too chunky, but I'll get over it...

 

[Viperfixr]

Nice! The F35 looks really slick from every angle but directly from the side. Too chunky, but I'll get over it...

Despite having 6 years on the program and going back to it in my next AF assignment, I could not agree more. Love the F-16 for visceral appeal--it just screams "FIGHTER!" And, nothing better looking than an SR-71. The "Fat Man in a Magic Suit" Lightning II is mean looking from the front, kind of a buzz kill from the side. The capabilities, however...are amazing.

When the F-16 came out, it was a crash prone, single mission, 'disposable' jet produced in large numbers to fight the Russian hoardes over the Fulda gap. AIM-9s and 20mm were originally the only munitions carried. Now look at it, as it is practically the underpinning of our 4th Gen capabilities in more missions and munitions than I can easily count! The Lightning II's first chapter is still being written and the jet already eclipses multi-mission 4th Gen (F-16, F-18, etc.) capabilities so significantly (in all the ways that matter) it's hard to describe. Where it will go with time, experience and development will be facinating to watch.

 

[Winston]

Navy F-35C Pilots Test Improved High-Tech Helmet

https://www.scout.com/military/warrior/story/1753732-navy-stealth-f-35c-tests-new-technology

Sensors in the pilot’s Generation “3 HMD” have been improved with new firmware to better enable pilots to target enemies and perform missions at night, Navy developers explained.

The new display is engineered to add more image fidelity in lower ranges of brightness and low-light conditions; this allows for better targeting and carrier-landing ability in the darkest conditions when there is no moonlight, Navy officials explained.

All the information pilots need– is projected on the helmet’s visor, rather than on a traditional Heads-up Display, a Lockheed statement said. The helmet also provides pilots night vision through the use of an integrated camera, the statement continued.

The 3 HMD also allows for efficient viewing of sensor feeds from cameras positioned around the aircraft. The F-35’s Distributed Aperture System streams real-time imagery from six infrared cameras mounted around the aircraft to the helmet, allowing pilots to essentially “look through” the airframe.

 

[Winston]

Despite having 6 years on the program and going back to it in my next AF assignment, I could not agree more. Love the F-16 for visceral appeal--it just screams "FIGHTER!" And, nothing better looking than an SR-71. The "Fat Man in a Magic Suit" Lightning II is mean looking from the front, kind of a buzz kill from the side. The capabilities, however...are amazing.

When the F-16 came out, it was a crash prone, single mission, 'disposable' jet produced in large numbers to fight the Russian hoardes over the Fulda gap. AIM-9s and 20mm were originally the only munitions carried. Now look at it, as it is practically the underpinning of our 4th Gen capabilities in more missions and munitions than I can easily count! The Lightning II's first chapter is still being written and the jet already eclipses multi-mission 4th Gen (F-16, F-18, etc.) capabilities so significantly (in all the ways that matter) it's hard to describe. Where it will go with time, experience and development will be facinating to watch.

F-16's my favorite, too. IMO it's the most beautiful jet fighter ever made from every angle. It's the fighter plane designed based upon inputs from fighter pilots.:

 

[Viperfixr]

You all need to read this article if you want to begin to understand how the Lightning II kicks butt, LO wise. This is a huge advantage over any 4th Gen weapons platform in so many ways, A-A and A-G.

 

[Winston]

In the nice air show video below, note the bumps just forward of the vertical stabilizers. I've read on-line that these are "Luneberg reflectors" meant to totally spoil the stealth of the aircraft so it can be seen on ATC radars and to avoid giving away the aircraft's radar cross section to any bad guys who might be watching. I have no idea if that's true, but it sounds reasonable.

This strange mod to the F-35 kills its stealth near Russian defenses — and there's good reason for that

https://www.businessinsider.com/f-35-luneberg-radar-cross-section-russia-estonia-2017-5

Luneberg reflector

https://www.radar-reflector.com/products/radar-reflector/luneberg-reflector

[video=youtube;ii93rnAxxJo]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ii93rnAxxJo[/video]

 

[Zebedee]

Those videos are great. This is one of my favorites (not an F-35 though) giving you the 1st person view through the mach loop with the pilot/co-pilot providing commentary all the way through so you can see and hear what it looks like from inside the fighters:

[video=youtube;kT7qrYi8R_M]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kT7qrYi8R_M[/video]

 

[tbzep]

Even though my son works for Lockheed at Ft. Worth, previous fighter generations all the way back to the 50's were prettier. The F-35 is still pretty cool, just not as cool as the F-15's and F-22's in the other vids.

 

[Viperfixr]

In the nice air show video below, note the bumps just forward of the vertical stabilizers. I've read on-line that these are "Luneberg reflectors" meant to totally spoil the stealth of the aircraft so it can be seen on ATC radars and to avoid giving away the aircraft's radar cross section to any bad guys who might be watching. I have no idea if that's true, but it sounds reasonable.

True. Almost all stealth (i.e. low observable) aircraft that fly in controlled airspace need something like this to enable ATC to see the jet and prevent "free looks" by those we'd rather not help learn about the weapons system. The 'enhancers' just bolt on--dead simple. Look at photos of an F-117A at an airshow and you will see this trapezodial shape bolted on the side of the intakes--same thing. Some platforms use panels that appear identical, but one set is 'clean' and the other 'dirty', same outcome.

 

[Nytrunner]

I was traveling through an air base on business recently and saw a bunch of F18/22s on exercise but no 35s.
Would have been something to see for sure.


Now, this conversation would be completely different if Boeing had won the joint strike fighter bid.
Personally, I think it'd've been interesting.


Of course, opinions differ. Just ask the internet:

 

[Winston]

 

[Viperfixr]

Another really insightful article on how the F-35 lethality is so effective.