Son Number One phoned last night to tell me about his day. He’s attending an advanced logistics officer course at Sheppard AFB this week and next, and the curriculum includes a field trip to Lockheed-Martin’s manufacturing facility in Fort Worth. Fort Worth is where Lockheed is putting together the F-35, better known as the Joint Strike Fighter. My son was stoked, as we used to say. Excited. And with good reason. The F-35 has some awesome capabilities (all the following is unclassified). To wit: the sensors are so good that the pilot can read the lettering on the side of the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas from 45 miles out. That’s 45 miles away from the target, assuming we’d want to blow up The Grand. The sensor suite also includes a “virtual capability” to look down and through the air frame while airborne; the way Buck described it was “it’s like flying Wonder Woman’s invisible airplane.” And finally, of great interest to a maintainer…the maintenance guys can do a full engine swap in about two hours. An F-16 engine swap takes about eight to ten hours, on a good day.
It looks like the flying services (and that’s everyone except the Army and the Coast Guard) are gonna get a helluva aircraft. Conversations like the one I had last night with Buck make me very nostalgic for my AF days…
I am sure he will have a great time in Wichita Falls :) You know that I grew up there, and it really isn't such a bad place. I still make it over there about once a week to see my Mom, do some shopping, check out the cute pilots...for my daughter, of course.
ReplyDeleteI love planes and jets, hueys corsair, I loved Puff the Magic Dragon which had the capability to ping every square inch of an entire football field but you probably knew that. If I was a guy I'd had a wood! But since I'm not I call it just excited as hell.When I lived in Quantico and then in Stafford when I moved from Quantico, I was right in their flight pattern and they'd do manuvers right over my house.They would also do demolitions close enough that my windows would rattle and my stained glass, hanging, would fall off the window. I always loved it. And ya just gotta love when they come up with this high tech stuff. I bet you salivating. Later Buck!
ReplyDeleteGreat trip to LM! Dad, you hit it on the head when you said STOKED! Anyway, trip tomorrow to Tinker AFB, one of the "other" Air Logistics Centers (ALCs). I'm sure it will be a good time. It's been a while since I've been to OKC...
ReplyDeleteWichita Falls has been good so far...