St. Mary's County Times December 06, 2018 | Page 24

24 PAX River The County Times Patuxent River Naval Air Station s w e N Thursday, December 6, 2018 Pax River F-35 ITF Leaves HMS Queen Elizabeth After ‘Eclipsing Aspirations’ NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN--F-35 Lightning jets from the Pax River In- tegrated Test Force (ITF) left HMS Queen Elizabeth (R08), Nov. 19, 2018, after eight weeks flying on and off the 65,000-tonne warship, helping to write the ‘operator’s manual’ so the jets can fly from her deck on front-line operations. The success of the Westlant 18 de- ployment – which has also included a visit to New York – allows the Ports- mouth, UK-based ship to move on to operational trials next year. Two F-35B test jets, four test pilots and nearly 200 personnel based at the F-35 ITF at Naval Air Station Patuxent River in Maryland, joined the carrier in late September. Since then they have performed 200 short take-offs, 187 vertical landings, 15 shipborn rolling vertical landings – a technique unique to the UK which allows a Lightning to return to the carrier with a heavier payload – and dropped 54 dummy bombs into the Atlantic. “This has been one of the most com- prehensive flight trials at sea ever con- ducted,” said Royal Air Force Squad- ron Leader Andy Edgell, FOCFT(FW) lead test pilot with the F-35 Pax River ITF. “I am very proud to have profes- sionally executed every aspect of this trial and deliver for the UK a capabil- ity that can be exploited for years to come.” Royal Navy Commander Nathan Gray, test pilot at the F-35 Pax River ITF and the first person to land a jet on HMS Queen Elizabeth, added: “It has been phenomenal to get through a high profile with such success. This is due to the skills of the designers of both the F-35 and the ship herself. “It is beyond question that without the vision of the Royal Navy and the unfailing support of the ship’s compa- ny we would not have achieved what Publisher Thomas McKay Associate Publisher General Manager Al Dailey Eric McKay we have done today,” he said. “I am proud to have delivered this future and enduring operational capability.” Weapons experts loaded various configurations of bombs and missiles on to the Lightnings, making use of HMS Queen Elizabeth’s unique auto- mated munitions magazine. ITF scientists recorded masses of data from the ship and the jets; that data will determine the limits (weath- er, humidity, pitch and roll of the ship, aircraft weight) at which the Light- nings can safely launch from and land back on HMS Queen Elizabeth and her sister Prince of Wales. “It goes without saying that this was a phenomenally successful shipboard detachment,” said Andrew Maack, F-35 Pax River ITF Chief Test Engi- neer and Site Director. “I could not be more proud of the collective team effort between the ITF and the HMS Queen Elizabeth crew to make this happen.” Royal Navy Captain Nick Cooke Priest, HMS Queen Elizabeth’s new Commanding Officer who was in command for the second phase of this current set of F-35 trials said this au- tumn’s trials had marked “a significant milestone on the Royal Navy’s journey back to big deck carrier operations. “The schedule has been busy and challenging and the results have eclipsed the aspiration; this success is largely due to the exceptional relation- PEO(JSF) Integrated Test Facility Public Affairs The St. Mary’s County Times is a weekly newspaper providing news and information for the residents of St. Mary’s County. The St. Mary’s County Times will be available on news- stands every Thursday. The paper is published by Southern Maryland Publishing Company, which is responsible for the form, content, and policies of the newspaper. The St. Mary’s [email protected] Advertising Jen Stotler [email protected] Tim Flaherty [email protected] Kathy Smith [email protected] County Times does not espouse any political belief or endorse any product or service in its news coverage. To be considered for publication, articles and letters to the editor submitted must include the writer’s full name, address and daytime phone number. Submissions must be delivered by Editor Dick Myers [email protected] 4 p.m. on the Monday prior to our Thursday publication to ensure placement for that week. Graphic Designer Jeni Coster [email protected] late content, but cannot guarantee so. Letters may be condensed/edited for clarity, although [email protected] to the newspaper and accepted for publication remains with the author, but the St. Mary’s Staff Writer Guy Leonard ship that exists between the ship and her embarked staff, and the scientists, engineers and pilots of the F-35 Inte- grated Test Force, all of whom have shown exceptional professionalism, dedication and drive,” Cooke Priest said. He continued: “This deployment has however delivered far more than the initial integration of fixed wing air- craft with the ship. “It has re-introduced the true value that carrier capabilities bring to the UK and her allies, it has deepened our relationship with our closest ally, demonstrated our nation’s engineering prowess and cemented our commit- ment to the future as a global navy.” The carrier is now spending time in Norfolk, Virginia, offloading the ITF team and their equipment before head- ing back to Portsmouth, UK, in time for Christmas. She will come home, said UK Carri- er Strike Group Commander Commo- dore Michael Utley, with a real buzz on board. “This is positive time to be a Royal Navy sailor, a positive time to be Roy- al Navy aircrew and a positive time for the UK-US partnership in providing a greater depth of security across the globe.” Contributing Writers Laura Joyce, Ron Guy, Shelbey Opperman, Dave Spigler After that deadline, the St. Mary’s County Times will make every attempt possible to publish care is taken to preserve the core of the writer’s argument. Copyright in material submitted County Times and its licensees may freely reproduce it in print, electronic or other forms. We are unable to acknowledge receipt of letters. The St. Mary’s County Times cannot guarantee that every letter or photo(s) submitted will be published, due to time or space constraints. County Times St. Mary’s P. O. Box 250 • Hollywood, MD 20636