Playing With Lightning: F-35Bs Training In South Carolina

Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort, just inland from South Carolina's Atlantic coastline, was built in the 1940s as a base for anti-submarine warfare aircraft. Today, the airfield is undergoing a modernization in readiness for the F-35, with new hangars, hover pads and security fencing to support the new low-observable fighter. Eventually, Beaufort will be home to two F-35B training squadrons and two or three frontline F-35B and F-35C units.

The VMFAT-501 “Warlords” is the sole F-35 squadron at Beaufort, operating 15-20 F-35s, including British aircraft. The aircraft’s low-observable requirements mean there will not be many colorful F-35s, but one of the aircraft carries an attractive blue chevron.

F-35 operations are performed from specially built facilities that include sun shelters to keep the heat off the sensitive avionics.

VMFAT-501 will eventually grow to 25 aircraft and currently has approximately 300 personnel, of which 10-15% are British. The British contingent has grown dramatically since the beginning of this year.

Aviation Week’s visit to Beaufort provided an opportunity to see F-35 flight operations up close. The aircraft appears to be a spritely performer, particularly at low weights, where in short-takeoff/vertical-landing (Stovl) mode the aircraft is airborne and climbing away in 100-200 ft. in a rolling takeoff from stand-still. Here, Royal Air Force Sqn. Ldr. Hugh Nichols demonstrates a rolling vertical landing.

The process of transition from conventional to Stovl configuration is rapid, taking just a few seconds, but it radically alters the flying capabilities of the F-35. According to VMFAT-501 instructors, pilots coming from the AV-8 Harrier community have had some difficulty adapting to the F-35’s controls and try to over-control the aircraft in hover.

Complaints have increased from communities around Beaufort because of the increased noise level from the F-35, and in part because of the additional noise generated by the hovering, unlike the Hornets based there that land and recover.

This worm’s eye view provides an interesting perspective on the F-35: The aircraft sits quite high off the ground, and the pilot appears to have good visibility from the large canopy. This is particularly important on the F-35B to give the pilot ground references during vertical landings.

The F-35 has a long way to go before it begins to replace the F/A-18 Hornet in significant numbers. Beaufort has six frontline squadrons still flying the “Legacy” Hornet. During Aviation Week’s visit on March 7, 10 F/A-18Cs from VMFA-122 “Werewolves” departed for Japan as part of the regular rotation of Hornet squadrons to the Pacific.