F-35 accident KABQ

[Box hauler]

Was performing an STO off of 21. Not sure why wasn’t just making a conventional TO. Especially considering it was warm and high yesterday, maybe a 7000’-ish DA.

Ironically, this is the second B model F-35 to crash during immediate pre-delivery.

View attachment 78083

It seems like a lot of them have crashed in general.

 

[MikeD]

I'm curious. During the delivery flight, are there certain tasks or performance objectives that need to be met/logged along the way for the destination to accept delivery? Like, was this kind of TO needed during the flight as delivery criteria?

All the acceptance tasks are completed pre-delivery, so a fully checked out product is being delivered.

 

[KLB]

Air to air combat over America? Unlikely.



And at least my gun purchase is limited. The govt has far more plane than it really needs.

We'd never had imagined Japan attacking Pearl Harbor. It was highly "unlikely".

 

[CFI A&P]

Was performing an STO off of 21. Not sure why wasn’t just making a conventional TO. Especially considering it was warm and high yesterday, maybe a 7000’-ish DA.

Ironically, this is the second B model F-35 to crash during immediate pre-delivery.

View attachment 78083

Amazon’s product placement is getting out of control. They’re everywhere.

 

[Pilot Fighter]

That looks pretty bad. Hope the guy or gal fully recovers. I'm sure whatever happened, happened very quickly. Last time I regularly flew a single engine airplane was the F-16, and my personal addition to the takeoff checklist was "7. Pray to god nothing goes wrong"

That being said, as a matter of course, I think most of us accelerated as quickly as possible in ground effect so that if the thing shat/we sucked up a bird, we could at least make low key and get on profile to come back. You'd easily be at 500-550 KCAS by the end of the long runway in Fallon. I also did once high speed abort in that thing, IIRC for some weird EGT/surging issue. It was super benign, but I did taxi the entire perimeter of the field several times before I came back to the line to try and cool the brakes down, which @ KNFL was like several miles each time. We had • little brakes, possibly even worse than those of the Hornet/Super.

Foreign exchange or Top Gun?

 

[Soku39]

Yes, was headed off of RW21. Rumor to be a B model. Factory new delivery from the plant at NFW over to EDW, fuel stop at IKR. DCMA pilot.

Probably one of the worst parts of the airfield to crash at.

Wait, DCMA has pilots? How on earth do I get that gig GS-14 step whatever? Can I live somewhere other than the hell hole/slap of concrete that is the north Texas metroplex? Inquiring minds want to know.

 

[Pilot Fighter]

Was performing an STO off of 21. Not sure why wasn’t just making a conventional TO. Especially considering it was warm and high yesterday, maybe a 7000’-ish DA.

Ironically, this is the second B model F-35 to crash during immediate pre-delivery.

View attachment 78083

Seems like a spicy choice for a delivery.

 

[///AMG]

Foreign exchange or Top Gun?

Yeah, when I worked out at NSAWC. I wasn't a bro though, I just graduated from their course

We used them for Air Wing Fallon red air, and in the off season, we would frequently fly red for the TG section/division phase events.

 

[Pilot Fighter]

Yeah, when I worked out at NSAWC. I wasn't a bro though, I just graduated from their course

We used them for Air Wing Fallon red air, and in the off season, we would frequently fly red for the TG section/division phase events.

A patch is a patch.

 

[///AMG]

A patch is a patch.

These days sometimes I feel like mine should have a "RETIRED" rocker underneath, kinda like the ADVERSARY or CONTROLLER ones. The tactics in the last few years have just gotten out of hand, and it is especially difficult to follow when you are no longer flying in the community. Oh well. I guess we all get old at some point. At least I can still beat up on FRS cat 1's in BFM and not feel so washed up

 

[MikeD]

These days sometimes I feel like mine should have a "RETIRED" rocker underneath, kinda like the ADVERSARY or CONTROLLER ones. The tactics in the last few years have just gotten out of hand, and it is especially difficult to follow when you are no longer flying in the community. Oh well. I guess we all get old at some point. At least I can still beat up on FRS cat 1's in BFM and not feel so washed up

The general tactics that I see birds like the F-35s using…..and I mean very general, as their stuff is pretty class……is stuff I’ve never seen in my day. I’d always wondered why a single section would be taking up an entire 80 mile by 50 mile MOA, but they do. And they are quite effective in what they do. Nothing like in my day.

 

[///AMG]

The general tactics that I see birds like the F-35s using…..and I mean very general, as their stuff is pretty class……is stuff I’ve never seen in my day. I’d always wondered why a single section would be taking up an entire 80 mile by 50 mile MOA, but they do. And they are quite effective in what they do. Nothing like in my day.

Yeah, also in very general times, you are very correct. The old ways of purely visual formations and GP type deliveries were the first things to go. The complexity that a modern F/A-18 or F-35 FNG pilot needs to master is truly staggering to me. It isn't unmanageable, but there is a LOT more required now, I guess cerebrally, than the old days of my career, when you could basically just shut up, fly good form, maybe take a couple pot shots, and you were a King Kong wingman. And that wasn't even that long ago!

 

[Skåning]

Last time I regularly flew a single engine airplane was the F-16

There must be some weird IP address voodoo going on because this was recommended to me on the uToobs after reading this thread

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0j7Z7Qnu7no

 

[Pilot Fighter]

Yeah, also in very general times, you are very correct. The old ways of purely visual formations and GP type deliveries were the first things to go. The complexity that a modern F/A-18 or F-35 FNG pilot needs to master is truly staggering to me. It isn't unmanageable, but there is a LOT more required now, I guess cerebrally, than the old days of my career, when you could basically just shut up, fly good form, maybe take a couple pot shots, and you were a King Kong wingman. And that wasn't even that long ago!

Has the VT world adjusted to these new demands or has the RAG become brutal?

 

[///AMG]

There must be some weird IP address voodoo going on because this was recommended to me on the uToobs after reading this thread

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0j7Z7Qnu7no

Nice I'll have to check it out. We absolutely, I mean flat out, destroyed our fleet of F-16N's. That was before my time, so not sure why I use "we" here, but that was a pretty slick airplane. What I flew was the A and B, block 15's. They were very old, but had been basically pickled in a warehouse in DFW since the 1980s before we got them, so they had a weird new but old car smell to them. Since my time out there, our dedicated Fallon adversary squadron (that flew F-5's when I was around), has taken delivery of a bunch of high-time former USAF C's and D's, that are apparently a mess. But it will be interesting to see/hear how that program evolves.

 

[///AMG]

Has the VT world adjusted to these new demands or has the RAG become brutal?

No, quite the opposite. They have removed a ton of flights from the VT world, and it has fallen on us in the FRSs to make up the difference. The VT students don't CQ at all anymore, just FCLPs. And their hours are significantly less now, when they arrive to the FRS. This is all due to the multiple issues the T-45 fleet has suffered in the last 6-8 years (OBOGS, turbine blades x 2, etc)

 

[knot4u]

I mean we could discuss this the second you presented a shred of evidence which didn't come from a bot-farm. jUSt SAyiN notwithstanding.

You, of all people, should've understood that anything I wrote after tin foil hat was meant as humor, that's why I said tin foil hat. People are so sensitive these days, it's embarrassing.

 

[Maximilian_Jenius]

What is interesting is that the DCMA pilots fly all models of the F-35, just like those assigned to the V-22 program fly all models of those. The B model F-35 is significantly different from the A and C, just due to its VTOL capabilities. A few different witnesses on the USAF ramp said it appeared he was doing a short run takeoff.

DCMA?

 

[MikeD]

DCMA?

Defense Contract Management Agency. Pilots from all the services assigned to this agency are involved in oversight of contracts, procurements, etc, for DOD and other agencies. They serve as acceptance pilots for factory aircraft,etc.

 

[///AMG]

You, of all people, should've understood that anything I wrote after tin foil hat was meant as humor, that's why I said tin foil hat. People are so sensitive these days, it's embarrassing.

This reminds me of stopping by a gas station in town today to grab a snack. There was a guy sitting in the truck parked next to where I parked. I got out (in my flight suit) and he yells at me "hey, you know the earth is flat?"

I'm not making this up, or exaggerating. That was the exact thing he said/asked me. I don't know if he was F'ing with me and had a really good poker face, or if he was serious. Based on where I live, I'd guess the latter. I couldn't even think of a response, I just laughed in his face and walked off (not intentionally, it was just so weird and random). It was possibly the weirdest interaction I've had in a very long time.