F-35 adds to Oklahoma’s aviation heritage
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July 12, 2011
By Paul Crockett
KRMG News Talk Radio
7/10/2011
(Oklahoma City, OK) – As battles over the federal budget heat up in Washington, the folks at Pro-Fab in Oklahoma City are watching carefully. Pro-Fab is the main contractor in Oklahoma for the Lockheed Martin F-35 project.
The project for the next generation of U.S. fighter jets is already being given credit for bringing 400 direct and indirect jobs to Oklahoma. Pro-Fab Marketing Director Gordon Gearn says only some of the employment is at their Oklahoma City facility. “It does add 150 jobs and they are high paying jobs.”
The F-35 project is currently only producing about 20 planes a year. If the green light for full production is given, Gearn says that 20 would only be a drop in the bucket. “In the coming years they’re supposed to get up to possibly 200 aircraft a year which will really impact our economy a lot.”
Pro-Fab Aerospace Program Manager Ryan Russo says they fill orders for around 130 part numbers for the F-35 for Lockheed Martin. He also points out they have some of the work done by a number of different companies around the state including a partnership with Tulsa based Southwest United. That partnership includes an adjoining Southwest United metal processing plant at the Oklahoma City site.
The F-35 itself is actually three different but very similar planes based on a common design. Those design differences are based on which branch of the armed services will use them.
The F-35A is meant to fill the needs of the Air Force. It will be the most common type produced and is said to have a price tag of $65 million.
The F-35C is for the Navy. It has slightly larger wings and a beefed up undercarriage for its use off large carriers.
The F-35B is designed specifically for the Marine Corps. It is a STOVL aircraft. That stands for Short Take Off/Vertical Landing and will replace the Harrier jets the Marine’s currently use.
We talked with F-35B test pilot Graham Tomlinson. Tomlinson is a former Royal Air Force Harrier pilot so he knows a thing or two about the STOVL concept.
Tomlinson says the Harrier was a great aircraft in its day but that it took constant training to be able to stay on top of it and not lose control. The F-35B on the other hand “The aeroplane is ridiculously easy to fly so that the pilot can get on with the mission, managing the battle space.” He compares flying the F-35 to driving a modern car.
Tomlinson says the F-35B is meeting the goal of being able to take off in under 550 feet. He says that’s important since the Marines often operate from small carriers or less than ideal airfields.
All three variants of the plane employ stealth technology. Lockheed Martin F-35 Program Director Daniel Conroy says unlike the previous generation of stealth aircraft, the F-35 is designed to be stealthy without having to be handled with kit gloves.
Tomlinson uses a very popular book series to describe the advantage you get from stealth. “That’s Harry Potter’s Cloak of Invisibility if you like.”
Part of the way the plane achieves stealth is by carrying its weapons inside the fuselage. That not only hides them from enemy radar but Tomlinson says it reduces the change in flight characteristics you get when you strap bombs and missiles on the outside of a plane.
For his overall impression of the aircraft, Tomlinson turns back to a Harry Potter analogy. “High speed, agile, a good broomstick if you like.”
