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On ‎4‎/‎2‎/‎2017 at 9:35 AM, TMReich said:

I have to believe that even if this specific failure mode wasn't anticipated, the possibility of a visor failing in some way was.  I would bet that the basic flight instrument readings can be displayed on the console.

You are correct sir.

 

Nobody's mentioned the Bogmonster is retiring yet? 

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  • 3 weeks later...

SIGH...so much progress being made by the rest of the world. Once again our procurement seems to be buried under important matters like pot legalization. Where oh where is our Hornet replacement?

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On 4/22/2017 at 9:47 PM, Ken Cartwright said:

Not sure if this is new info, but saw this article about the UK's F-35Bs carrying Meteor missiles in 2024 (if all goes according to plan).

 

http://defense-update.com/20170421_f35_meteor.html

 

The eurocanard crew will be upset, the meteor was the "club" against the evil American F-35 with its inferior AMRAAMs

Edited by TaiidanTomcat
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14 minutes ago, TaiidanTomcat said:

j98hikP.jpg

 

Scale Modelers rejoice, rumors of new coating method as seen above. contrast with picture below

I hate it.   Boring.   Why can't they keep the old version??

 

Kidding aside, is this going to be the new look for all jets or is it just a trial / test aircraft?

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"There is a new look coming to the F-35 later in the year! With a sleeker, more uniform coating system, F-35s are saving time in Aircraft Final Finishes (AFF) and saving dollars. The design and new look didn’t happen overnight, but rather was the effort of many people over the last five years.

In 2012, James Thistle came to Fort Worth from F-22 in Marietta as the Production Operations Senior Manager in AFF. He quickly recognized the need for improving the throughput of AFF, which at the time was operating at almost double the scheduled span and cost budgeted for the area. After pitching a potentially significant opportunity to his then-director, Tom Carrubba, now vice president of Aeronautics Quality Transformation and Enterprise Integration, he was able to gain the initial support for changing the engineering design, coatings material and the application process used in AFF.

“What resulted in the end was several days of span time saved in AFF and one of the most positively impactful affordability projects on the F-35 to date. It saves significant hours per unit, defects and rework and improves the aircraft sustainability in the field. It also changes the exterior look of the aircraft to a more uniform coating,” said Carrubba.

“The Aircraft Finishes configuration required the preparation and applications of various materials, which aesthetically appear as jig saw panes of various shades of gray across doors, panels and control surface edges. The manufacturing process to yield a complying product are extremely labor intensive and requires unique skill sets and more so concentrated attention to detail, which meant more labor and processing span in AFF," said Thistle. "Despite the immense efforts amongst the F-35 Finishes organizations, the process often yielded escapes and as a result contributed towards the organizations number one driver for quality defects."

The idea to optimize the process by eliminating multiple masking operations and the need to manually hand spray various top coats by using robotic application during the final top coat application; or “Z13” overcoat as it is more commonly known, was conceived. The project will reduce the cost of an F-35A by $16,000 per aircraft and will save $49 million in the total life of the program.

Chad Wemyss, Delivery Operations Manufacturing Engineering (ME) manager, has been working on the project since picking it up as AFF ME Lead in 2012. “This has been one of the most intense collaboration efforts I’ve taken part in. It has involved several years of testing by the Signature Integration and Materials and Processes (M&P) teams, as well as close teamwork with Production Operations, Finishes Engineering, Sustainment, the Affordability team, the F-35 Program Office and the customer, Joint Program Office (JPO). There have been a lot of stakeholders with different aspects of project inputs and requirements and keeping the whole thing moving forward has been challenging, but also extremely rewarding,” he said. The team kept with it and the results were evident when AF-104, the test aircraft for this project, finished its final coatings in AFF. Implementation of the change is expected in the 2nd quarter of 2017."

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Thanks for the info TT.  Still can't figure out if the F-35 is a good looking jet but I do like the new finish.  Assume that earlier jets will be repainted at some point when they go in for heavy Maint?  

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Does this mean that modelers also do not have to mask the multiple RAM panels.  I have a "C" model with the initial coat painted on.  More uniform?  Or uniform - as in one color?  I don't know if anyone has pics? 

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25 minutes ago, B2Blain said:

Does this mean that modelers also do not have to mask the multiple RAM panels.  I have a "C" model with the initial coat painted on.  More uniform?  Or uniform - as in one color?  I don't know if anyone has pics? 

Looks like the new color is lighter.  Anyone got additional pics of this aircraft?

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21 minutes ago, B2Blain said:

Sorry, I missed the pic above.  Is that this jet?

 

RNoAF-F-35-maneuvering.jpg

 

I don't like it either. Darker is better.  RAM panels are still there - a little more subtle. 

 

 

Looks somewhat close to a Gunship Gray but with the Dilithium Crystals in it. Well, at least in the first photo it did....

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First jet with the new paint is AF-104, don't know if it's flown yet, hopefully when she does we will get some pics from the fence sitters. What's old is new, it looks like the original concept art when JSF program was in its infancy and everything wore a Hill like F-16 two tone lol.

 

16K in saving is not huge by itself alone, obviously 49 million is and it's good to see every detail is being examined. It all adds up

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6 hours ago, TaiidanTomcat said:

First jet with the new paint is AF-104, don't know if it's flown yet, hopefully when she does we will get some pics from the fence sitters. What's old is new, it looks like the original concept art when JSF program was in its infancy and everything wore a Hill like F-16 two tone lol.

 

16K in saving is not huge by itself alone, obviously 49 million is and it's good to see every detail is being examined. It all adds up

 

AF-104/ 14-5103 was delivered to Luke AFB months ago. You can see some pics here:

 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/chrisk48/33017434836

https://www.flickr.com/photos/chrisk48/32392424030/

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/730/33136649396_2c0bb28c03_b.jpg

Edited by Koen L
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4 hours ago, Koen L said:

 

Wow thank you. My Google Fu turned up nothing

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