U.K. Pilot Completes Vertical Landing in Boeing JSF X-32B
NAVAL AIR STATION PATUXENT RIVER, Md., July 05, 2001 -- Royal Navy Lt. Cmdr. Paul Stone today became the first pilot from the United Kingdom to complete a vertical landing in the Boeing Joint Strike Fighter X-32B short-takeoff-and-vertical-landing (STOVL) aircraft.
On the aircraft's 64th flight, Stone took off conventionally, transitioned to a hover and then landed vertically on the hover pad here.
"I am very impressed with the X-32B -- it was rock solid in the hover and very easy to land with great precision," Stone said. "The plane has exhibited excellent handling qualities during all STOVL events and across the entire flight envelope. It is much easier to fly than the Harrier."
Earlier in the week when Stone performed his first hover in the X-32B, Nicholas Lay, U.K. Ministry of Defence flight-test engineer assigned to the JSF program, was responsible for conducting the mission and coordinating the efforts of a full control room of program personnel.
"Having U.K. pilots and flight-test engineers working as an integral part of the Joint Test Force demonstrates that the U.K. is fully involved in this program," Lay said. "This means that we can ensure the British Harriers will be replaced with a very capable aircraft that meets our requirements."
Stone is an experienced fighter pilot with nearly 2,400 flight hours, including 1,350 hours in the Harrier. Stone also played a significant role in flight testing the Boeing X-32A concept demonstrator.
Boeing is competing to build at least 3,000 Joint Strike Fighters for the U.S. Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps and the U.K. Royal Navy and Royal Air Force. The United Kingdom will help the U.S. Department of Defense determine the winner of the JSF competition later this year.
With today's milestones, the X-32B has now completed 64 flights. The X-32B is scheduled to complete its flight testing later this month.
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Contact Info:
Chick Ramey
(206) 662-0949
charles.b.ramey@boeing.com
Denny Kline
(301) 995-7387
dennis.kline@boeing.com
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