I just posted a round up of F-35 videos on Wednesday, but they just keep coming. Lockheed Martin has posted two more videos featuring the F-35′s flight testing. The first video is on airstart testing. That involves shutting down the engine in flight, turning the F-35 into a rather inefficient glider, and then restarting the engine. Being able to reliably restart the engine is critical, as heavy maneuvering could potentially disrupt airflow into the engine, causing a flame out. Clearing airstart testing is a requirement before conducting high angle of attack, or high-alpha, flight.
They’d also flown the F-35A with external stores, following up on the early flight of the F-35B with external stores that I posted previously:
And the Naval Air Systems Command posted a very brief video of the first steam catapult launch of the F-35C at NAS Patuxent River last November 4th:
