Airforces

or many British military

personnel, the morning drive

to work takes in winding

country lanes and more than the

occasional chilly overcast day.

Not so for those attached to

the ‘Black Knights’ of No 17

(Reserve) Test and Evaluation

Squadron (TES). Travelling to

work for most on this squadron

means driving the four-lane

highway that runs alongside

Rosamond Dry Lake bed, which

is usually basking in hot sunshine.

The road leads to a world-famous test airfield

that in October marked the 70th anniversary

of Chuck Yeager’s first breaking of the sound

barrier that occurred here. Edwards Air

Force Base, California, is where test pilots

became living legends. It’s one of the US

Air Force’s most prominent flight test centres

and therefore an ideal location to bed down

the flying element of the F-35 Lightning

II Joint Operational Test Team (JOTT).

As the only Tier 1 partner in the F-35

programme, the United Kingdom

is intrinsically linked to the

development of the Lightning II,

especially the short take-off and

vertical landing (STOVL) F-35B,

the variant being procured

for the UK Lightning Force.

Experience with the Harrier

and the expertise of British

industry in this field led to a

key role in the development

of the STOVL elements of the

F-35B. Indeed, BAE Systems

test pilot Graham Tomlinson

was at the controls for the maiden flight

of the first F-35B on June 11, 2008.

No 17(R) TES stood up in 2014 at Edwards

as the UK’s F-35 operational evaluation unit

and is now embedded within the F-35 JOTT.

It is equipped with three F-35Bs, all of which

are ‘orange wired’ with test instrumentation.

Cdr Ian Tidball, Royal Navy, is Officer

Commanding No 17(R) TES, an appointment

that reflects the true joint nature of the

UK Lightning Force. “It’s a real privilege

to be selected to command an RAF

squadron,” he told AFM in his office at

Edwards. “It shows that the UK Lightning

Force truly is a joint organisation.”

With RAF and RN engineers being trained

at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, and pilots

being similarly readied as an embedded

element of Marine Fighter Attack Training

Squadron (VMFAT) 501 ‘Warlords’ at

Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort, South

Carolina, the UK is building towards the

stand up of No 617 Squadron ‘Dambusters’

at RAF Marham, Norfolk, in 2018.

“We are the sole UK sovereign F-35 squadron

at the moment,” explained Tidball. “617

[Squadron] is still operating under US Marine

Corps regulations at Beaufort and will continue

to do so until they move back to the UK.

The maintainer schoolhouse at Eglin is also

very much based on US policy. The method

in which we maintain our aeroplanes is a

little bit different. So, in addition to our test

duties we have additional personnel from 617

and from 207 Squadron [the UK Lightning

Operational Conversion Unit] who are here with

personnel, the morning drive

Rosamond Dry Lake bed, which

programme, the United Kingdom

is intrinsically linked to the

development of the Lightning II,

especially the short take-off and

vertical landing (STOVL) F-35B,

the variant being procured

for the UK Lightning Force.

Experience with the Harrier

of the STOVL elements of the

F-35B. Indeed, BAE Systems

test pilot Graham Tomlinson

Black Knights

F

Above: ZM136 is the second UK F-35B, known as BK-2, and is seen here fl ying in the R-2508 range

complex near Edwards AFB. All photos Jamie Hunter unless otherwise stated

Black Knights

64 // JANUARY 2018 #358 http://www.airforcesmonthly.com