The F-35 Program continues to grow and will for many years to come.
As the U.S. Military and a number of other countries continue to put
their future air power in the hands of this new fifth generation jet fighter; I
am very confident the eyes of this country and around the globe will learn more
and more about the Panhandle of Northwest Florida, and specifically Fort Walton
Beach and Destin.
Seven F-35Cs should arrive at Eglin in April
By
LAUREN SAGE REINLIE / Daily News
Published:
Thursday, February 21, 2013 at 20:14 PM.
At
last, but not least, the Navy should receive its first F-35 jets this spring at
Eglin.
A
production model of the F-35C, the Navy’s version of the military’s newest and
most expensive stealth fighter jet, took to the sky for the first time last
Thursday in Fort Worth, Texas. Lockheed Martin, the company that makes the
planes, is set to deliver that jet and six others to Eglin Air Force Base the
first weekend in April.
Their
arrival will be a welcome sight for about 70 Navy F-35 pilots, maintainers and
support staff at Eglin. Some have been on base for almost two years without a
plane to fly or to work on as the arrival was pushed back.
“Everybody’s
getting really excited about the opportunity to get their hands on the
airplane,” said Navy Cmdr. John Enfield, who heads the Navy’s first joint
strike fighter squadron, VFA-101, at Eglin. “Getting the airplane finally is
going to be great for morale.”
It’s
also going to nearly triple the size of the squadron.
Another
70 or 80 sailors are scheduled to arrive this year. F/A-18 jets should come
this summer to fly along with the F-35s, and that will bring another 60 or 70
maintainers, Enfield said.
They
all likely will be stationed at Eglin for three-year stints.
Eglin
already has a fleet of 22 F-35s for the Marines and the Air Force. Both forces
have started putting pilots through the schoolhouse there.
Navy
maintainers work on other planes in the fleet. Pilots have been able to go
through the Air Force’s academic training program and use their simulator
software, but haven’t been able to get into any jets.
The
F-35C is unique in that it’s made for landing on aircraft carriers. That means
the wingspan is a little wider and the jet is designed to carry more fuel for
longer flights. It also is a little slower so it can land in tighter spaces.
Landing
on an aircraft carrier takes precision. A traditional runway is about 6,000
feet. On a carrier, the landing space is only 600 feet. Of that space, pilots
really only have about a 3-foot by 3-foot window to drop the head of the plane
on, Enfield said.
Steel
arresting wires, usually about three on a ship, run across the landing space. A
tail hook lowers from the bottom of the plane, and the pilot must put the jet
down so the hook lands between the second and third wires.
The
wire then drags out and stops the plane from going off the carrier into the
water.
“The
first time you do it its a little disconcerting when you realize you’ve got a
35,000-pound airplane and an inch-and-a-half steel cable and this little tail
hook, and it all works together to stop the airplane,” Enfield said. “It’s
pretty remarkable, actually.”
Because
of the precision required, Navy pilots practice takeoffs and landings more than
the other forces.
The
ones at Eglin will practice at a relatively remote landing strip at Choctaw
Field on the west side of Eglin’s reservation, Enfield said. They will circle
for landing at 600 feet, much lower than the 1,600 feet landing pattern for the
Air Force.
“You
can imagine how loud these things are. If we were flying over Valparaiso at 600
feet, it probably wouldn’t endear our neighbors,” Enfield said.
Working
with the Air Force and Marines at Eglin has been invaluable, Enfield said.
They’ve been able to share information more easily than if they were at
different locations.
For
example, when the Air Force and Marines got their planes, there was a big
learning curve: how they operate, what breaks, what doesn’t and basic
procedures.
“We
spent a lot of time writing down those lessons so we don’t have to learn them
on our own,” Enfield said. “They did a lot of plowing the field and pulling all
the rocks and tree stumps out for us.”
He
said it is amazing to be at the forefront as a new aircraft is added to the
Navy’s fleet. They are starting from ground zero and then leading the way for
future generations, he said.
“I
tell (them) ‘your son or daughter is going to come back and tell you if you did
a good job or a bad job,' because what we do now is setting the standard for
the Navy for the next 30 years,” he said.
With
what they already have learned, Enfield said they should be able to take to the
skies within a month after the jets arrive.
He
said hopes to get a chance to fly one before he leaves for his next post later
this year.
Contact Daily News Staff Writer Lauren Sage Reinlie at 850-315-4440 or lreinlie@nwfdailynews.com.
Follow her on Twitter @LaurenRnwfdn.
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