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The Lockheed Martin F-35B Lightning II has flown its first public displays in the UK this week at Farnborough and the Royal International Air Tattoo at RAF Fairford.
The US Marine Corps aircraft, which is usually based at MCAS Yuma in Arizona, is operating out of RAF Fairford and performed its first full Farnborough display on 12 July. It also made flybys with the Red Arrows and a USMC KC-130 earlier at the show.
The F-35’s appearance at Farnborough is actually two years later than planned. The JSF was originally supposed to display at Farnborough 2014, but an engine failure three weeks prior to the show forced the USMC to cancel the trip.
This year, the F-35’s display includes high- and low-speed passes as well as a demonstration of its vertical hover capability, but without a vertical or conventional landing. Control laws prevent the F-35’s pilot from performing the crowd-pleasing “bowing” manoeuvre that was a trademark of its V/STOL predecessor, the McDonnell Douglas/BAE Systems Harrier.
Max Kingsley-Jones/FlightGlobal
Source: FlightGlobal.com
