How Fighter Pilots Train To Fly The Marine Corps’ F-35B | Boot Camp

This is the F-35b Lightning II, the Marine Corps' multi-role

fighter

aircraft is equipped with the most advanced sensor suite of any

fighter

in history and the most powerful engine of any aircraft in the world, which can reach maximum speed of 1200 miles per hour. time has just revolutionized what fighter jets are capable of and these are the

pilots

train

ing to fly that 100 million dollar plane a lot of people just think you know you get to fly and then you go home and have a beer, but not everything is like that, not only are you flying but you are talking on four different radios you are working on the radar you are working on the t-flare you are working on the actual optical system there while still navigating talking to the atc and then working with the weapons At the top of them, student

pilots

spend a year

train

ing to fly the F-35 Bravo here at Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort, South Carolina.

This is a pilot's last stop before being sent to a fleet squadron overseas and it is here where they learn to handle the multi-role fighter aircraft on a variety of missions we do strikes then air interception we do oca dca so offensively defensive counter air reconnaissance counter air arms and then really the bread and butter are seeds expression of enemy air defenses the pilots we met are part of the 501st

marine

fighter attack squadron, also known as the warlords, once you complete here, you are sent to the fleet squadrons you meet in Yuma or Japan, the student pilots in the training squadron have already completed flight school, so the training focuses specifically on operating the f-35b eventually all pilots fighters who pass through the

marine

corps

will fly in f35.

I'm Michael Watts, my senior in the Marine Corps, my grandfather was a pilot in World War II and I always went to his house to see his models of his B-25 bomber and also my father was a Navy pilot in Vietnam, so that I grew up with it, you know, in my blood, here we basically feel it, you learn how to fly the plane and then you go through all the different sets of missions and basic skills because there are a limited number of planes that can fly at a time, the Most of the pilot training is done on the ground in the simulator and in the classroom we were not allowed to film some classified aspects of the pilot. training, but we were allowed to film the pilots practicing the plane's most unique capabilities and go behind the scenes as they prepared for a training mission.

During training, it's crucial that the pilots feel comfortable executing the f-35b's stovall maneuvers because they will have to master those techniques on an aircraft carrier really the main thing is when we get off the ship, so when I leave for Japan here in a few weeks, I will eventually learn to fly off the ship, how do we get there? we do vertical landings, how we take off, we do short takeoffs and that's really the big reason we're doing that Lockheed Martin makes three variations of the F-35 Lightning II, but the Marine Corps F-35 Bravo is the only one with stovall capabilities.

This feature is one of the main reasons why the Marine Corps' 2019 aviation plan called for replacing its current fleet of aircraft with more than 350 F-35BS. We are replacing all hornets, all harriers and all prowlers with conventional f-35s. Planes need about 3,000 feet to take off, but in optimal conditions an F-35b can take off in just a couple hundred feet for a takeoff, we get to the runway and then at that point, when we initiate a conversion, we literally just we press a button and then the plane goes through its transformer sequence right once it's completed now we're in what's called stovall mode there are different types of short takeoffs that we can do my favorite is the button it's called the store button and I'm just accelerating down the runway and literally just click a button and then the plane will take off on its own, it's pretty amazing and then shortly after takeoff we can convert it back to conventional mode once we reach a certain speed, a once in the air, actually driving the plane is not like that.

The most difficult aspect of operating it is it is actually a very easy airplane to fly. It is more difficult to process the amount of information it gives you. I would say knowing where to look at the right time. Student pilots already have experience flying airplanes. Their training focuses on using technology exclusive to the F-35B. A lot of the difficulty is trying to absorb all the information that the airplane provides, operate all the sensors and systems at the same time and fly, and really that's probably the number one struggle. Once a practice mission is completed, pilots must take on another of the plane's unique characteristics: Executing a vertical landing without ever having done so was an experience in which my brain told me not to slow down because deceleration from the hornet that meant you were going to fall. from the sky it's a normal approach to landing, like you go to the right runway and then level off and then set a certain ground speed and then at a certain distance from the pad, you'll start a deceleration and all that's just clicking on a button and then from there you'll make sure you're centered on the platform, then you just push forward with a stick and then drop straight down to the platform.

I would say the first time doing a vertical landing in the F-35b is pretty crazy, you practice it a lot in the simulator, you do it, you know, dozens of times in the simulator, but the first time you do it in the plane You just slow down. for the first time like this and floating on a platform with over 30,000 pounds of metal 150 feet in the air is pretty cool. You usually feel like the world is collapsing on you when you fly to the right and then you're like Sitting there like looking out like you're in the tower or something and you trust that you're okay there, you know you're still flying before Before setting foot in the cockpit, student pilots need to familiarize themselves with the equipment needed to operate the F-35B starting with their anti-gravity suit which helps prevent them from losing consciousness while operating the aircraft.

It is a cloth material that has bladders inside and every time you pull the g, it uses the pressure of the motor to inflate. and then prevents the blood from going down to the legs and pushes it towards the abdomen as much as possible. Each pilot's G-suit is custom made to fit perfectly around his lower body and then we have a flight jacket that we put on. and has plenty of survival gear. The pilot's flight jacket is packed with a multitude of survival tools in case they have to eject from the plane, including a flare, emergency strobe light, compass, survival knife, extra water whistle, a radio and an oxygen mask. a car with code for hand and arm signals, just uh, search and rescue signal, basically, then they have a signaling mirror just to indicate that the plane was just the mirror and the reflections.

Some less conventional survival tools are provided by pilots themselves. I always try to carry my wallet in case I have to land somewhere other than here, that happened to me before you landed somewhere yesterday, you don't have a wallet or phone or anything that's a bit difficult so definitely take my wallet with me every time you're on the In case pilots have to eject from the plane, their flight jacket is integrated with a unique safety feature, there are arm restraint lines that run the length of the jacket , when you eject they pull your arms basically towards your body, you're basically making sure that your arms are not going to be blown around by the wind, the jacket is also equipped with a flotation device in case the pilot has to eject over a body of water, so as soon as it hits the water, it will inflate the entire jacket so it doesn't move.

They have to do anything if their arms are broken or anything after ejection, last but not least the pilots learn to use the most technologically advanced equipment their four hundred thousand dollar helmets each helmet adapts to its user based on In a 3D scan of the The pilot's head is also equipped with noise-canceling headphones, night vision and a front camera that records each flight. The pilot's head-up display is projected directly onto his visor rather than onto the glass at the front of the cockpit thanks to two small projectors. Inside the helmet, this allows the pilot to easily see key data such as altitude, airspeed and direction, as the aircraft can help us a lot.

Flying really should be second nature, that way you can focus on all the information the plane ultimately gives you. The F-35's distributed aperture system creates a 360-degree view of the aircraft's surroundings by stitching together images from six cameras mounted on the aircraft, allowing the pilot to see through the base and walls of the aircraft. I think a lot of people underestimate the amount. of work it takes to become a pilot and firefighter pilot, specifically a one-hour flight, even a simulated one, can mean up to six additional hours of information to prepare for flight inspections and briefings, not to mention the hours spent studying for each mission, so you could spend an entire day preparing and debriefing for a single hour of flight.

I think it's amazing to be in the fifth-generation stealth fighter as at the tip of the spear. It is a very heavy aircraft in terms of the combat power that the Marine Corps brings. the fight and I feel honored to be a part of it, it's definitely cool, you know, continuing that tradition, talking to my dad about everything I'm doing now and how it relates to what he did, all the airports in that flew You know some of the ones I've flown too, so he's got stories, he's pretty good for you.