Airforces phantoms at andravida

First shipborne rolling vertical

landing on HMS Queen Elizabeth

BAE SYSTEMS test pilot

Peter ‘Wizzer’ Wilson

conducted the first

shipborne rolling vertical

landing (SRVL) in an F-35B

on board the aircraft carrier

HMS Queen Elizabeth

(R08) on October 13. The

Lightning was involved in

WESTLANT 18 trials on

board the new warship.

The UK is the only nation

currently planning to use

the manoeuvre, which

enables the jet to return

to the carrier with heavier

loads of fuel and weapons.

Prior to the SRVL, the

F-35B had conducted

vertical landings on the

ship, coming to a hover

to the side of the ship,

approaching sideways over

the deck, before landing on.

For an SRVL, the jet

uses a more conventional

landing pattern,

approaching the ship from

the aft end, at speed,

using the thrust from the

nozzle and lift created by

air over the wings to touch

down and come to a stop

as soon as possible.

The initial SRVL took place

at exactly 10.30hrs off the

east coast of the US. The

aircraft landed 755 yards

(690m) back from the end

of the carrier’s ski jump,

coming to a complete

standstill at the 580-yard

(530m) mark. Wilson said:

“I’m excited and thrilled

to have achieved this,

the whole team is. It’s an

inherently risky manoeuvre.

We have always understood

that it is safer to stop before

you land than it is to land

before you stop and the

prime reason for that is that

if something goes wrong

with the airplane it is far

better for it to be stationary

than a rolling wreckage.

I’ve worked on this for the

past 17 years; it’s fantastic

to know that

it’s matched

the modelling

and

simulation

we have done over the

years. I’ve flown over 2,

SRVLs in the simulator,

and am honoured to have

been able to do the first

one on board HMS Queen

Elizabeth here today.”

The first phase of

development testing (DT-1)

was completed when

the two F-35Bs of the

Integrated Test Force (ITF)

• BF-04 and BF-05 – left
  the Queen Elizabeth on
  October 16 and returned to
  Naval Air Station Patuxent
  River, Maryland. The two
  Lightnings embarked
  on the carrier on
  September 25 and
  completed 98 ski-

jump launches, 96 vertical

landings, and two SRVLs.

Prior to completing DT-1,

BF-05 performed a first

weapon drop event during a

sortie from Queen Elizabeth,

successfully releasing two

inert GBU-12 Paveway

II laser-guided bombs.

The ITF returned to

the ship in late October

for DT-2, which was

slated to include external

stores testing, minimum

performance short take-

offs and SRVLs, plus

night operations. A

third developmental

test phase, followed by

operational testing, is

scheduled for next year.

Right: Peter Wilson

completes the fi rst ever

SRVL on board HMS ‘Queen

Elizabeth’. Royal Navy

6 http://www.airforcesmonthly.com

NEWS Headlines

// DECEMBER 2018 #

Dassault unveils

NGF mock-up

DASSAULT AVIATION

presented a scale model

of its New-Generation

Fighter (NGF) at the

Euronaval exhibition in

Paris from October 23-26.

France and Germany

plan to build the aircraft

as a successor to the

Rafale and Typhoon.

The concept is a twin-

engined, manned aircraft

with stealthy features

including no vertical tail

surfaces and rectangular

engine intakes.

The NGF name is now

being used to distinguish

the future fighter from

the Future Combat Air

System (FCAS) ‘system

of systems’ study that

involves Dassault and

Airbus and which includes

unmanned aerial vehicles

(UAVs) and support aircraft.

Confusingly, FCAS is also

used to describe a future

UAV programme involving

the UK and France.

The NGF programme

is headed by France’s

Dassault and also calls

for a carrier capability.

At Euronaval, France

also announced plans

for the successor to the

Charles de Gaulle aircraft

carrier, beginning with an

18-month study phase.

Above: The 1/10-scale NGF model on the Dassault Aviation booth at the Euronaval show at

Paris-Le Bourget exhibition centre. Dassault Aviation