First Flight - F-35

From the AF.mil website...more history in the making. Here we see a "First Flight"
- Tom -

http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123201130

Air Force F-35 completes first test flight
Posted 4/22/2010

4/22/2010 - WASHINGTON (AFNS) -- The Air Force version of the F-35A flew for an hour
April 20 from Naval Air Station Fort Worth Joint Reserve Base, Texas, becoming the
seventh F-35 Lightning II to fly.

AF-2, the conventional takeoff and landing aircraft, is the Air Force's version of
the Joint Strike Fighter. This fifth-generation fighter is the first one to carry an
internal GAU-22/A 25-millimeter Gatling gun weapon system.

"The first flight of AF-2 is a significant achievement for the F-35 program, the U.S.
Air Force and our international partners who will operate the F-35A," said James
"Sandy" Sandstrom, Lockheed Martin's F-35 U.S. Air Force program manager. "This
aircraft is configured to test and verify the multiple weapons loads that will
deliver fifth generation combat capability to the warfighter.

Photo Caption -
This Air Force version of the F-35 Lightning II completed a test flight April 20,
2010, from Naval Air Station Fort Worth Joint Reserve Base, Texas. The F-35 is the
first aircraft to be developed to meet the needs of three services -- the Air Force,
Navy and Marine Corps -- and U.S. allies with variants being developed simultaneously
by prime contractor Lockheed Martin. (Couresty photo)