Big-budget F-35 'can't turn, can't climb, can't run'

[unhappycamper]

http://triblive.com/opinion/featuredcommentary/6450437-74/engine-pentagon-design



Big-budget F-35 'can't turn, can't climb, can't run'
By David Axe
Friday, July 18, 2014, 8:57 p.m.
Updated 9 hours ago

~snip~

For starters, the Lockheed Martin-built F-35 — which can avoid sensor detection thanks to its special shape and coating — simply doesn't work very well. The Pentagon has had to temporarily ground F-35s no fewer than 13 times since 2007, mostly due to problems with the plane's Pratt & Whitney-made F135 engine — in particular, with the engines' turbine blades. The stand-downs lasted at most a few weeks.

Pratt & Whitney has totally redesigned the F135 in an attempt to end its history of frequent failures. But there's only so much engineers can do. In a controversial move during the early stages of the F-35's development, the Pentagon decided to fit the plane with one engine instead of two. Sticking with one motor can help keep down the price of a new plane. But in the F-35's case, the decision proved self-defeating.

That's because the F-35 is complex — the result of the Air Force, Marines and Navy all adding features to the basic design. In airplane design, such complexity equals weight. The F-35 is extraordinarily heavy for a single-engine plane, weighing as much as 35 tons with a full load of fuel.

By comparison, the older F-15 fighter weighs 40 tons. But it has two engines. To remain reasonably fast and maneuverable, the F-35's sole engine must generate no less than 20 tons of thrust — making it history's most powerful fighter motor.

[dixiegrrrrl]

1. Is that the plane pilots call "the thud"?

Amazing how long this non-flying boondoggle has been fed money.