F-35 Jet trials ‘rolling’ landing on aircraft carrier

Written by BDJ Desk

​A Royal Navy F-35 fighter jet has conducted the first “rolling” landing on board its newest aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth. On October 13th, an F-35B STOVL (Short Take Off vertical Landing)... ...

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​variant of the Joint Strike Fighter performed the first Shipborne Rolling Vertical Landing (SRVL) on the flight deck of HMS Queen Elizabeth, as part of the ongoing First of Class Flight Trials (Fixed Wing), or FOCFT (FW), BAE Systems test pilot pete “wizzer” Wilson, achieved the F-35B’s first real SRVL touching down at about 40 knots and decelerating to a standstill in about 175 feet.

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​Britain’s newest aircraft carrier (able to accommodate up to 24-F-35Bs out of the planned 138 F-35 Lightning jets) and the F-35 Patuxent River Integrated Test Force (ITF) are conducting a variety of flight maneuvers and deck operations to develop the F-35B operating envelope for QEC carriers. The new method of landing differs from the aircraft’s  usual vertical descent and means the planes can land with a heavier load.

​BAE Systems test pilot Peter Wilson flew the maneuver more than 2,000 times in a simulator before carrying it out on the ship for the first time.

​The aircraft carrier left its home port of Portsmouth in August to continue its flight trials on the other side of the Atlantic.

BBC, The Aviationist