JSF Prototype X-35B To
Air And Space Museum
The Joint Strike Fighter STOVL prototype, the
Lockheed-Martin X-35B, is now in the Air and Space Museum's
Steven F.Udvar-Hazy Center, Chantilly, Virginia near
Washinton-Dulles International Airport.
The X-35B made its last flight on August 6th, 2001, from
Edwards Air Force Base, after which it was retired and soon
was deemed no longer airworthy, consequently it was not
possible to fly the aircraft to Washington DC.
It would not fit in a C-5 or C-17 as it stood and it was too
wide for road transportation. The wing is built in unit with
the fuselage and could not be removed so specialists, with
advice from Lockheed-Martin's design department, chose the
best place for cutting off the wings so that they could most
easily be reattached at the museum.
With wings and tailplanes removed the aircraft components
were loaded on a flat-bed tractor-trailer and driven 3,000
miles for reassembly at the museum using specially fabricated
wing splices.
Correction
In the last paragraph of the report on Tim Gedge's talk it
should have been stated that Sir Sydney was watching the
P.1127, not the Harrier because, of course, he died before
the Harrier flew. Also, a date of 31st April was quoted in
the fourth paragraph; no such date, try 30th. (Apols;
Ed.)
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