Crews Prepare For F-35 Test Flights

Maintenance personnel have wrapped up certification and classroom training in advance of F-35 Lightning II flight tests scheduled to begin in late May or early June. Airborne trails are set to begin on the F-35A at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. before the conventional takeoff and landing (CTOL) aircraft returns to Lockheed Martin’s Fort Worth, Texas plant this summer. The initial F-35B short takeoff and landing (STOL) aircraft will begin long-term flight testing in early 2009 at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md. Around 500 maintenance workers will be assigned to 13 flight test aircraft over the next five years.
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