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It should be noted that the jet flew with a Eurofighter, an Italian KC-767 tanker and with
two C-130s for support for rescue in case needed. Flying across the Atlantic in winter
against heavy head winds is no picnic, but the jet not only had no problems, but per-
formed with ease and comfort according to Ninja.

Although the jet has enough fuel to fly from the Azores to Canada without refueling, it
was refueled in flight three times for safety and security. It was refueled twice in the
clouds, and the flight controls allowed the aircraft to do the air refueling very well and
with the DAS system built into the jet and accessed as well by the helmet, the pilot was
able to see all members of the formation even through the clouds. He shifted from au-
topilot to hand flying as appropriate throughout the flight of seven hours from the
Azores.

He emphasized that the plane was easy to fly, rock solid (“I have no gripes”) and as we
saw at Nellis adjusted the very flexible two screens to provide the data which he needed
to manage the flight across the Atlantic in formation. He pushed across against 120 knot
headwinds. The helmet worked well; and the ergonomics were excellent for the flight as
he was comfortable throughout the flight.

And he was doing all of this after having only 50 hours of flight time in the jet!

Although accompanied by much more attention and publicity, the famous formation
flight by Balbo and his mates with 12 hydroplanes from Rome to Rio de Janeiro, the
flight by a Ninja more than 70 years later was also a first of historic significance. But in
this case, an Italian delegation, five journalists and the welcoming Pax River F-35 ITF
was what greeted him.

Second Line of Defense Lessons Learned at Pax River
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