[MilCom] F-35

[Greg Brazil]

F-35 Returns to Limited Flight, Officials Rule Out Farnborough
Story Number: NNS140716-03Release Date: 7/16/2014 7:13:00 AM
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By Jim Garamone, DoD News, Defense Media Activity

WASHINGTON (NNS) -- While the F-35 Lightning II joint strike fighter has 
returned to limited flying, it will not be appearing at the Farnborough 
International Airshow in the United Kingdom, Pentagon Press Secretary 
Navy Rear Adm. John Kirby said during a Pentagon news conference July 15.

The F-35 fleet was grounded July 3 in the wake of a June 23 engine fire 
on the runway at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida. Navy and Air Force 
airworthiness authorities approved the F-35's return to flight yesterday.

The return has a limited flight clearance that includes an engine 
inspection regimen and restricted flight rules, Kirby said, adding that 
the limits will remain in place until the root cause of the engine fire 
is identified and corrected.

While the investigation is not yet complete, "we haven't seen anything 
that points to a systemic issue across the fleet with respect to the 
engine," the admiral said.

Even with the return to flight, U.S. and British officials decided not 
to send Marine Corps and Royal Air Force F-35B aircraft across the 
Atlantic to participate in the Farnborough airshow. "This decision was 
reached after a consultation with senior leaders and airworthiness 
authorities, despite the decision by airworthiness authorities to clear 
the aircraft to return to limited flight," Kirby said.

"While we're disappointed that we're not going to be able to participate 
in the airshow," he added, "we remain fully committed to the program 
itself and look forward to future opportunities to showcase its 
capabilities to allies and to partners."

Under the rules of the flight resumption, the F-35s are limited to a 
maximum speed of Mach 0.9 and 18 degrees of angle of attack. They can go 
from minus 1 G to a 3 G's, the admiral said. After three hours of flight 
time, each front fan section of each engine has to be inspected with a 
borescope. "That was a pretty significant limitation in terms of being 
able to fly them across the Atlantic," he added.

This is not the first aircraft to have problems like this, Kirby noted, 
and it won't be the last. "New programs often go through these kinds of 
challenges," he said. "We're confident that we're going to get through 
this."

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