F-35 turned full circle
After successfully completing the static test program with BAE Systems, the F-35 (known as AG-1), the aircraft has now returned back to Lockheed Martin F-35 headquarters at Fort Worth. The static test program broke all records for the speed of testing having applied more than 150 different loading configurations in just over nine months.
Having proven the strength of the aircraft has begun the 4,500 mile journey back to the US after almost three and a half years in the structural test facility at Brough, UK.
Tim Bramhall runs the F-35 structural test program at Brough said, “We certainly don’t give the aircraft an easy ride here. We push it to its limits so that we can be confident that each of the 3,000+ aircraft that have been ordered will perform safely and effectively. The real challenge is keeping aircraft weight at a minimum whilst maintaining the strength of the plane within certain specified limits.
“We still have another F-35 CTOL airframe in the facility undergoing fatigue testing along with the remaining horizontal and vertical tails from the Carrier variant. Work on those continues on schedule and are shining examples of the long term future the structural test facility has ahead.”
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