Random 10 List: Things I learned on the F-35 factory tour

Lockheed\nMartin says:

 

1. The \$800\nmillion gap in FY10 F-35 budget -- \$11.2 billion announced in April dwindled to\n\$10.4 billion in May - may reflect program's MILCON account
 
2. BF-1 STOVL\naircraft will start a 12- to 24-flight conversion program to full vertical\nlanding in July in Fort Worth, and complete in\nSeptember at NAS Patuxent River\n
 
3. Frontal-aspect\nradar cross section on F-35 will be no different for international variant,\nwhatever Boeing may claim
 
4. Looking\nahead to 240-aircraft yearly output, Lockheed wants to learn best practices\nfrom Airbus A320 production system, which also combines a global supply chain\nwith multiple variants and customer configurations
 
5. All\nengineering drawings for all three F-35 variants will be complete in July
 
6. Finland is in discussions with Joint\nProgram Office to sign \"study contract\", which is similar to Spain's current involvement
 
7. F-35\nairframe structure includes 22,000 \"penetrations\", of which 85% are currently\ndrilled by automation. Studies ongoing now aim to raise that amount by 5-7%
 
8. The lift\nfan inlet door is also known within the factory as the \"'57 Chevy hood\"
 
9. F-35's moving\nassembly line to start running at 58 inches an hour by end of 2010 or early\n2011
 
10. After 2.5\nyears in flight tests, the F-35 program will hit the 100-flight mark on the\nnext sortie