Patuxent river, Md. (April 10, 2014) The unmanned X-47B conducts its first night flight April 10 over Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md. Night flights are the next incremental step in developing the operations concept for more routine flight activity. The Navy will continue to execute X-47B test events to mature standard operating procedures for cooperative use of the airspace with manned aircraft. (U.S. Navy photo by Erik Hildebrandt/Released)

F-35A aircraft AF-4, flown by test pilot Vincent Caterina, executes a High Angle of Attack mission profile on a test flight over Edwards AFB, Calif. on Mar 7, 2014.
Lockheed Martin Photo by Matt Short.
Fort Worth, Texas, April 15, 2014 - The Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] F-35 Lightning II fleet recently surpassed 15,000 flight hours, marking a major milestone for the program.

?Flying 15,000 hours itself demonstrates that the program is maturing, but what I think is even more impressive is the fact that operational F-35s accounted for more than half of those flight hours,? said J.D. McFarlan, Lockheed Martin's vice president for F-35 Test & Verification. ?While the fleet continues to train, we are actively flight testing the software and mission systems that will enable the Marine Corps to declare Initial Operational Capability (IOC) next year as planned.?

As of April 7, operational F-35s had flown 8,050 hours while System Development and Demonstration aircraft had accumulated 7,123 flight hours. In 2014, F-35A test aircraft have flown 328 hours; F-35B test aircraft have accumulated 191 hours; and F-35C test aircraft have flown 91 hours. In comparison, operational F-35As have flown 963 hours, while their F-35B and F-35C counterparts have accumulated 1,012 and 98 hours respectively for the year.

?Following successful AIM-120 AMRAAM Weapons Delivery Accuracy (WDA) tests in February and March, we're looking forward to executing additional WDAs in the 2nd quarter,? said McFarlan. ?In another clear sign of program maturation, reliability metrics are trending upward as the operations tempo picks up ? recently 60 F-35 sorties were flown in one day.?

The U.S. Marine Corps plans to declare IOC in 2015, while the U.S. Air Force and Navy intend to declare IOC in 2016 and 2018, respectively.

Apr 14, 2014

Video by Tech. Sgt. Colleen Urban 380th Air Expeditionary Wing
F-22, F-15, & KC-10s out of the 380th Air Expeditionary Wing in Southwest Asia. Unit hometowns: (F-22) - 525 FS - Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, (F-15) - 4 FW - Seymour Johnson AFB, NC, and (KC-10) - 305 AMW - Joint Base McGuire-Dix- NJ.

Meanwhile here in Canada

Seattle, April 16, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Boeing (NYSE: BA) today delivered the 8,000th 737 to come off the production line to United Airlines, marking another important milestone for the world's best-selling airplane. The airplane, a Next-Generation 737-900ER (Extended Range), features a special logo.



The 737 is the first commercial airplane in history to reach this delivery milestone. The program has a strong backlog with more than 3,700 airplanes on order, including 1,934 orders for the new 737 MAX.

"The 737 program continues to innovate with new features and technology, meeting the needs of our customers now and into the future," said Beverly Wyse, vice president and general manager, 737 program, Boeing Commercial Airplanes. "Boeing has a long and treasured history with United Airlines, and we're proud they're taking delivery of this milestone airplane."

United was the first airline to order and take delivery of the 737-200. Since 1965, United has taken delivery of more than 550 737s and operated nearly every model.

"We're thrilled to celebrate this huge achievement with Boeing," said Ron Baur, vice president of fleet, United Airlines. "The 737 has been an integral part of our narrowbody fleet and we are pleased to continue this tradition by being the North American launch customer for the new 737 MAX 9."

Baur said United's 737-900ER delivered today, along with 737 MAX airplanes the airline has on order, will replace older, less fuel efficient aircraft while providing a superior passenger experience.

Great to see that the Canadian Mossie is getting closer to flying

Supposedly taken end of March in Iran.
An amazing formation, to say the least.

Great to see that the Canadian Mossie is getting closer to flying

HBPencil

Weather permitting, first flight is scheduled for tomorrow with non other than Steve Hinton.

SHOOT 'EM IF YOU GOT 'EM