In January, a report from Inside Defense broke the news that the US Navy's F-35 variant, the most expensive in the Joint Strike Fighter family, had an issue with the nose gear that made takeoffs untenably rough, and the aircraft unsuited for carrier launches.The Navy's F-35C has had a history of problems with its development, as it attempts to master the tricky art of catapult launches from aircraft carriers, but the nose gear issue could set back the F-35C into the 2020s, if an innovative solution is not found quickly.Business Insider then uncovered footage that appears to show the problem:AC/DC in an Angus Young style, or F-35C's 'delay gear'' Notice $400k helmet jumping out. @alexjlockie to @BI_Defense https://t.co/d7lFM0I6As pic.twitter.com/0xlUnkEWHp' JR Vianney (@jrvianney) January 27, 2017Essentially, the takeoff in the F-35C is too rough, jostling the pilots to where they can't read flight-critical data on their $400,000 helmet-mounted display.'This is a very stiff airplane, even though the oscillations about the same magnitude as you would see in a Super Hornet, it beats the pilot up pretty good,'US Air Force Lt. Gen. Chris Bogdantold reporters atthe McAleese/Credit Suisse defense conference, as US Naval Institute News notes.F-35C pilots are"hurting after doing three or four of these [launches] and in some instances even banging his half-a-million dollar helmet on the canopy. That's not good for the canopy or the helmet. So we knew we had an issue there,' said Bogdan.Luckily, testing at a land-based US Navy catapult system showed that instead of a costly and lengthy redesign of the F-35C's entire nose section, some smaller adjustments maysuffice.Jeff Babione, general manager of Lockheed Martin's F-35 program, echoed that sentiment at the company'sWashington, D.C. area office, telling reporters they had worked on a few simple changes that seemed to yield results. Babione said Lockheed Martin changed the way the pilot straps in, their head and arm position, and reduced the "holdback" ' or stress on the plane ' in the moments before launch."The initial indication is some of those techniques improved" the F-35C's launches, said Babione, who conceded that the real testing would be done by the Navy aboard carriers "to see whether or not those changes were successful."The make-or-break tests of the launch will take place at sea later this year.SEE ALSO:The F-35 program has a new, unexpected enemy ' the strong dollarJoin the conversation about this storyNOW WATCH: 7 things the CIA looks for when recruiting people
Click here to read full news..
