Page 29 - Renorming of Airpower: The F-35 Enters the Combat Fleet

The Renorming of Airpower: The F-35 Arrives into the Combat Force

We learned many other things of interest as well, such as the fact that the tool crib to support maintenance for
the F-35 contains the same amount of tools to maintain all three variants, as those necessary to maintain a
single legacy aircraft, such as the F-15.

We learned that several legacy systems had been designed out of the F-35 making the maintenance process
easier, more rapid and more accurate. A key example was that the actuators did not leak hydraulic fluid
and you did not need a MULE to be put in place to maintain a complex hydraulic system on the F-35 – it used
self-contained reservoirs on the actuators themselves.

One maintainer highlighted that because the plane talked with you, you could work with the data in the
computer to work on the systems rather than having to power up the aircraft, to get the information necessary
to shape your work process.

“The plane will show you on the screen what is wrong with it. You do not have to have the jet on to hear what
is wrong. This will clearly help newbies from the beginning be better maintainers.”

Another aspect was the management of health indication codes (i.e. HRCs).

“With legacy aircraft, you would get the codes and then have to go look them up. The F-35 gives you the
codes and what they are in the same process. This accelerates your ability to get on with the maintenance
cycle.”

Tires are one of the few items built-up in the backshops which remain on an F-35 maintenance line. Each
variant uses a different tire for the obvious reason that each is designed for a different operational
environment.

“We do use largely the same procedures for all three variants for tire replacement and to date we are
seeing normal wear and tear on F-35 tires comparable to legacy aircraft.”

A Marine Corps maintainer on the team had come from the Harrier.

“Many of the changes we wanted to see on Harrier maintenance have been incorporated into the F-35.”

We also had briefings on the seats and the helmet, and given Ed Timperlake’s experience of having had to
bail out of a two-engine jet on fire, he was impressed with the progress on the seat to facilitate safe ejection.
When we visited the Life Support technician, we learned that he had come from the USN and was a
parachute technician, which created an instant bond between a Marine Corps pilot whose life was saved by a
Navy parachutist technician’s accurate work!

The helmet is form fitted to the pilot for it is crucial to have the symbology of the cockpit projected directly in
front of the pilot’s eyes. “But it is of course not bolted into the head of the pilot and can move around which
may require him to adjust in flight as needed.”

In short, the “right stuff” is not just in the air; it is on the ground as well. And as the pilot in the air owns his
aircraft in combat; the crew chief and his team on the ground own their aircraft to get it combat ready. And
at Edwards they are part of the team preparing the way for a digital age information warfare “flying
combat system.”

(Visit to Edwards AFB to visit F-35 and KC-30A test teams in March 2016).

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