Wiring woes stall 1st test flight of F-35C ($243 million each)

A spokesman for Lockheed Martin said that wiring problems have delayed the first flight of the carrier version of the F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter. The F-35C's first flight had been scheduled for June 2.


Wiring woes stall 1st test flight of F-35C
By John Reed - Staff writer
Posted : Friday Jun 4, 2010 16:27:30 EDT

Wiring problems have delayed the first flight of the carrier version of the F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter by “several days,” said a spokesman for Lockheed Martin, the aircraft’s prime contractor.

The plane, an F-35C known as CF-1, was slated to take its first flight from Lockheed Martin’s facility at Fort Worth, Texas, on Wednesday.

Company spokesman Chris Geisel described the problems, discovered during preparation for the first flight, as minor. “The fix is straightforward and is not related to the aircraft’s design,” Geisel said.

Lockheed expects to move forward with the jet’s first flight in “the next several days,” he added.

As of Tuesday, the company said it was three test flights ahead of schedule for 2010, having completed 93 total flights with its conventional takeoff-and-landing F-35A, and its short-takeoff-and-vertical-landing F-35B.