64
“With DFP we have reduced FCLPs to
between four and six days”, said LT Cleveland.
“I expect the navy to reduce day requirements
to six traps”.The path to IOC
Headquartered at Naval Air Warfare Station
(NAWS) China Lake, California, VX-9
‘Vampires’ is long established as the centre for
operational flight-testing within the US Navy.
VX-9 Det Edwards is tasked with taking the
carrier variant of the F-35 into Initial
Operational Test and Evaluation (IOT&E) late
this year. The navy’s Edwards AFB detachment
has six F-35Cs and around 130 personnel. Like
the US Air Force, Marine Corps, British and
Dutch operational testers at this California base,
VX-9 Det Edwards is a vital element of the F-35
Joint Operational Test Team (JOTT).
CDR Ernest ‘Big Ern’ Anderson, executive
offi cer (XO) of VX-9 Det Edwards says: “We
are now in a phase of building our fl ying
hours and experience on the F-35C for when
Initial Operational Test and Evaluation starts.
All of our fl ights now are focused on training
to the skill sets we need in order to be
successful in the testing.”
While a formal start date has not been
agreed, most agree that late spring into early
summer is the most likely timeframe. This is
being driven by the completion of the related
Development Test (DT) activity to enable the
formal OPEVAL to start.
“We report to China Lake, but we essentially
operate as our own squadron down here,” addsCF-03 in short for the ‘Nimitz’ as CDR Tony
‘Brick’ Wilson prepares for a ‘bolter’ with the
hook retracted. Lockheed Martin/Alexander Groves64
F-35 LIGHTNING II F-35C into service
CF-03 in the pattern for the USS ‘Nimitz’
during DT-I in 2014. Lockheed Martin/Andy Wolfe