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Author Topic: F-35 News  (Read 40942 times)

Sir Slash

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Reply #75 on: January 30, 2020, 03:35:23 PM
Fokker that.

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Staggerwing

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Reply #76 on: January 30, 2020, 07:16:09 PM
The F-35 is looking more and more like it was designed by JJ Abrams

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Sir Slash

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Reply #77 on: January 30, 2020, 07:50:30 PM
Can't shoot straight? That means they qualify as the Empire's newest Fighter.  :2funny:   Surprised somebody didn't beat me to this one.

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bbmike

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Reply #78 on: January 30, 2020, 08:00:22 PM
The F-35 is looking more and more like it was designed by JJ Abrams

Nah, it would look like a helicopter and fight on land if that were the case.

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mirth

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Reply #79 on: January 31, 2020, 11:21:26 AM

Being able to Google shit better than your clients is a legit career skill.


Barthheart

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Reply #80 on: January 31, 2020, 12:19:29 PM
God I love this program

https://www.airforcemag.com/lockheed-potentially-mixed-up-structural-fasteners-in-most-f-35s/

Quote
Both fasteners are called “eddie bolts” and are similar in appearance except for a number stamped on them. The titanium bolts cost about $5 apiece, while the Inconel parts cost about $20 each. A Lockheed spokeswoman said the two parts are “very difficult to distinguish, visually.”

How did inventory control "mix" these up? I'm sure it was an "accident".... sounds like a whistle was blown somewhere.....

Quote
A Pentagon official familiar with aerospace structures said it’s possible the titanium or Inconel bolts could be incompatible with the materials they’re attached to, causing a possible corrosion issue if left uncorrected.

Not the least of the problems with this kind of mix up.

Quote
The Lockheed spokesman said an initial analysis concluded that “titanium has sufficient strength in locations that called for Inconel eddie bolts.” Another Lockheed official said components are built with “twice the strength specified,” but he did not specify whether this was the case with the titanium eddie bolts.

BS, if the titanium bolts were good enough, the Inconel ones would never have been specified at 4x the price. Marketing types trying to speak engineering now....  :doh:
« Last Edit: January 31, 2020, 12:23:30 PM by Barthheart »

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BanzaiCat

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Reply #81 on: January 31, 2020, 12:45:03 PM
^ ^ ^

Never try to engineer-BS an engineer!

This program is becoming a political farce to be reckoned with.
« Last Edit: January 31, 2020, 12:48:09 PM by BanzaiCat »

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trailrunner

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Reply #82 on: January 31, 2020, 03:48:43 PM
It’s entirely possible to get these fasteners mixed up. I’m not a manufacturing expert, but I did walk the assembly line when it was early in production, and it just amazes me that we can build something this complex. In retrospect there should have been some fail-safe way to avoid this, or some very serious training. 

Aircraft don’t usually have sufficient weight margins to allow a 2x safety margin, which is more appropriate for a bridge. I’m skeptical of that claim.

Galvanic corrosion was a big problem with the F-22. I don’t think that this would be a problem in this case, but I could be wrong.

There needs to be a study of where these fasteners might be. If one lot got mixed up, that could be straightforward to fix.  If there is some random and unknown mixing for an unknown amount of time, then that won’t be good. The most likely corrective action will be a stringent inspection schedule of operational planes. That cost is indirect and buried in the normal operating cost of the maintenance by the service.


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Barthheart

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Reply #83 on: February 01, 2020, 07:19:27 AM
...
Aircraft don’t usually have sufficient weight margins to allow a 2x safety margin, which is more appropriate for a bridge. I’m skeptical of that claim.
...

Fighter aircraft are usual designed to around 1.2 Safety Factor, because you want as much performance as possible and, well if it comes apart it's only one or two people dead.
Civilian aircraft are closer 3 SF, because loosing 300 people to flaw is bad for business.
Bridges are designed closer to 5 to 8 SF, because you want them to last a very long time, and Mother Nature is very hard on our structures.
 

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Martok

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Reply #84 on: March 20, 2020, 12:48:56 PM
 ;D


F-35 tests positive for Coronavirus

Quote


EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, California — As the saga of seemingly never-ending problems plaguing the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Program continues, things took took an unexpected turn this past week, as the unhealthy aircraft has tested positive for coronavirus.

“We are not sure how this happened,” an Air Force spokesman said. “We did everything we could to beef up the firewall and security after China stole all our F-22 data”.

F-35s running the virus started experiencing excessive high running temperatures, had difficulty getting enough air into the engine, had runny oil, made coughing/sputtering noises and “handled like shit and couldn’t hit anything worth a damn” noted one pilot though official Air Force sources have confirmed that may just be normal for the F-35.   

Despite the continuous flow of software security improvements and bug fixes, the F-35 was no match for the coronavirus. Although most of the problems caused by the virus already plagued the aircraft, the virus hit it with all the problems at once.

“Those darn Chinese have engineered a mighty virus” stated the Air Force acquisitions spokesman.  “We knew the F-35 was always at risk but we had no way of seeing this coming.”

Coders are working around the clock to develop a cure though experts fear that curing the F-35 of coronavirus will only burn more money and will never address the underlying problems with the F-35.

“It fucking sucks,” the spokesman said.



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mirth

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Reply #85 on: June 08, 2020, 05:56:37 PM

Being able to Google shit better than your clients is a legit career skill.


mirth

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Reply #86 on: June 24, 2020, 06:36:47 PM

Being able to Google shit better than your clients is a legit career skill.


ojsdad

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trailrunner

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Reply #88 on: March 05, 2021, 04:17:36 PM
The F-35 was sold as being very affordable.  The lowered maintenance costs would pay for itself.  The lessons learned from maintaining previous stealth aircraft would be incorporated into the F-35 and the same mistakes would not be made.  Truuussssstttt us!!

Also - that article mostly talks about the USAF wanting to withdraw support for the plane.  USAF was never that enthusiastic about the F-35.  It was mostly the Marines pushing it, because they AV-8 were old dinosaurs with outdated performance, and the Marines wanted a STOVL capability.  USAF would have preferred to buy more F-22s, or if they had to buy a single-engine fighter, they didn't want the design compromised by a joint aircraft.  So it's not surprising that USAF wants to get out of the program.

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BanzaiCat

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Reply #89 on: May 07, 2021, 12:08:39 PM
Honeywell Admits Sending F-35, F-22 Part Drawings To China

Quote
Honeywell has agreed to pay $13 million in fines and compliance costs after company officials sent multiple engineering and technical documents to China with details of multiple aircraft, including the Lockheed Martin F-35 and F-22, over a seven-year period, the U.S. State Department said May 3.

Also

Honeywell Fined Millions Over Exporting Sensitive Info On F-22, F-35, And More To China (Updated)

Quote
The U.S. government and defense contractor Honeywell have reached a settlement over alleged violations of portions of the Arms Export Control Act, or AECA, and the International Traffic in Arms Regulations, or ITAR. The matter at hand had to do with Honeywell's alleged unauthorized export of dozens of technical drawings relating to components of various aircraft, missiles, and tanks, including the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, the F-22 Raptor stealth fighter, the B-1B bomber, the Tomahawk cruise missile, and the M1A1 Abrams, to multiple countries, including China. American officials contend that some of the disclosures harmed national security, something that Honeywell denies.

The U.S. State Department announced the deal, in which Honeywell agreed to pay $13 million in civil penalties, among other things. Of that amount, the payment of $5 million was immediately suspended on the condition that the company put it toward "remedial compliance measures." In addition, the U.S. government chose not to pursue more serious action based on Honeywell "voluntarily" disclosing the exports that violated the AECA and ITAR, which the State Department also continues to describe as alleged as a result of the settlement.

Hmm, $13 million sounds completely reasonable for undermining some of the most central defensive systems of the United States. [/sarcasm]

Bloody balls-up, innit?

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