The first production-equivalent F-35A conventional takeoff and landing Joint Strike Fighter on Nov. 14 took its first flight—an 89-minute stroll during which Lockheed Martin test pilot Doc Nelson flew it from the company’s Fort Worth plant to 20,000 feet, reached 0.6 Mach, and conducted some 360-degree rolls. A Lockheed release notes the AF-1 was built on the same production line—the first modern fighter moving assembly line—as the 31 low rate initial production F-35s now undergoing assembly. Continue
Rep. August Pfluger (R-Texas) is introducing legislation to award Maj. Robert “Bob” Alfred Lodge a posthumous Medal of Honor for sacrificing his life May 10, 1972—during the critical bombing campaign in the Vietnam War—to protect fellow members of the 555th Tactical Fighter Squadron