AirForces Monthly – July 2018

#364 JULY 2018 // 65

across the ITF. You can take anybody from
any place in the ITF and choose the ‘best
athlete on the day’ to fulfil any task.”
At the peak of the SDD phase, BAE had
two test pilots in the ITF at Pax. Today,
the UK test pilot involvement comprises
Wilson, plus two UK military test pilots.
“We began flying the F-35 AA-1 six months
before I came out here and I started
flying the F-35 in 2010,” Wilson added.

Carrier trials
BAE Systems leads the operations and
planning for STOVL flight test on the F-35B.
The first-of-class trials for the Queen
Elizabeth-class carrier (QEC) with the F-35B
are scheduled to begin in late September
off the US east coast. “We will fully embark
onto the ship with around 200 personnel
from Pax,” said Peters. Assistance will be
provided by No 17 TES at Edwards. “We will
take two test F-35Bs from here aboard the
Queen Elizabeth this year for two periods of
approximately four-week trials, which will be
conducted back to back with a short break
in the middle. Another six-week period will
follow next year in the autumn timeframe.”
‘Wizzer’ Wilson is set to play a crucial role in
the QEC trials. “I’ve been to three prior F-35B
ship trials as a flying test pilot. I’m not the

project pilot for QEC – that is Sqn Ldr Andy

Edgell – but I’ll be one of the four pilots.”

Clearly, Wilson’s prior experience will be

very important as the ITF takes the first

F-35Bs out to the huge new Royal Navy

aircraft carrier. “We plan to fly every pilot

every day for six days a week and there

will be some specific events that I’ll have

keen interest in; for example, the shipboard

rolling vertical landing [SRVL] is where the

engineering is both complex and fascinating.”

Asked about the first time an F-35B will land

on HMS Queen Elizabeth, Wilson said that it

will be a vertical landing (VL) onto the deck.

“The first landing will be a side step to VL and

we don’t expect any surprises. We’ve done a

The UK’s aircraft carrier testing will be conducted

off the east coast of the US and will initially focus

on vertical landings. Lockheed Martin/Andy Wolfe