U.S. aviation enthusiasts will have their first glance at the U.S. military's second fifth generation stealth fighter, the Lockheed Mart...
This will marks the first civilian U.S. air show appearance by F-35, which will be held from July 20 to 26.
The fighter will be the F-35A conventional takeoff and landing variant for U.S. Air Force, based with the USAF’s 33rd Fighter Wing at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida. It is scheduled to arrive midway through EAA AirVenture week and remain on display throughout the remainder of the fly-in.
The F-35 is a single engined multirole fighter that combines stealth, sensor fusion, and unprecedented situational awareness. Three distinct variants of the aircraft will replace U.S. Air Force fighters F-16 and A-10, U.S. Navy and Marine Corps F/A-18s, the Marines AV-8B Harriers, and the Harrier GR.7s and Sea Harriers flown by United Kingdom military forces.
The F-35 program began as the Joint Strike Fighter(JSF) program in 1997, an initiative designed to replace the aging fighter aircraft fleet in the U.S. military, which has now expanded to become a international program.
The first F-35 made its initial flight in 2006, with the first production model flying in 2011. U.S. Marine Corps will be the first to introduce the F-35C, later this year.
The “Lightning II” nickname was given in honor of the legendary Lockheed Martin P-38 fighter of the World War II era.
The F-35 program has experienced a number of cost overruns and developmental delays. Despite these, Lt. Gen. Christopher C. Bogdan program's executive officer said the program is on track to meet delivery the schedules.
Other USAF fighters scheduled for EAA AirVenture includes the massive B-52 Stratofortress strategic bomber and the first fifth genertation fighter F-22 Raptor.
Another highlight of the EAA AirVenture will be the appearance of the North American F-100F Super Sabre, the first U.S. Air Force fighter plane capable of supersonic speed in level flight which flew with USAF from 1954-79.
