Lockheed Martin’s fift generation fighter jet, the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II is already delivered to several countries. The first public display of the type was two years ago, when the Royal Netherlands Air Force showed their F-35s to the public at the Luchmachdagen in Leeuwarden. After one month, the F-35s also been introduced to the public by RAF and USAF in the United Kingdom during two different events.
2018 will also a special year for the type. Besides that the Royal Air Force will get it’s first F-35 before the important Royal International Air Tatoo, the United States Air Force Lightning s will also flying over the Ocean.
The first event marked in the schedule of the Air Combat Command website, is the ILA Berlin Airshow. The ILA Berlin is one of the largest aviation salon in the World with a long history. According to the first plans, the F-35 will be on the static display of the German expo. More interesting that the Air Combat Command also have the plans to send the type to the United Kingdom again. This year is so important for the RAF, because of the Air Force’s 100th anniversary. That major event will be celebrated of course on the largest airshow in the World, the Royal International Air Tattoo. For that special event, we can expect a huge selection of participants and participating countries. There have been interesting confirmations so far, like the return of the Royal Canadian Air Force CF-188 Hornet display team. But not only the Canadian Hornet will be a highlight returning performer. As it was mentioned, the United States Air Force Air Combat Command also have the plans to send the F-35A Heritage Flight Team to this anniversary event, and it’s almost sure, that we can expect for some special flypast in collaboration with the American team.
The F-35A Heritage Flight Team at Luke Air Force Base teams up with Air Force Heritage flight exhibiting the professional qualities the Air Force develops in the people who fly, maintain and support these aircraft.
Extra Flybys Approved
Accordng to the American aishow website www.airshowstuff.com, the F-35 Heritage Flight team is approved for a three-pass “mini-demo” at its performances this year.
The F-35 profile will include three non-aerobatic solo passes, most likely before the first HF formation pass, for consistency between HF performances. This is a bit of a let down for those who followed the rumors that the US Air Force’s F-35 would be upgraded to a full aerobatic demonstration after Lockheed Martin debuted an aerobatic profile at the Paris Airshow last year. However, it shows that the program is getting closer to a full-up demo.
Thats still not confirmed what can the public see by the USAF F-35 on the Royal International Air Tattoo, but we can not wait too much for the official confirmation by the organisers of the event.
