Daniel Brannigan/The Community News: Lockheed Martin test pilot John Beesley, center at podium, describes how the F-35, in background, performed during its first flight on Dec. 15. Bill Gostic, left, from Pratt & Whitney, Tom Burbage and Dan Crowley, from Lockheed Martin, listen in.More than 180 Parker County residents work on program
By Daniel Brannigan
The Community News
Some considered it a moment in history – but for many, including a number of Parker County residents, the first flight of the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II was a promise for the future.
The plane took flight last Friday, Dec. 15, with Chief Test Pilot Jon Beesley successfully guiding the fighter jet for 35 minutes to and from Naval Air Station Fort Worth.
“The Lightning II performed beautifully,” Beesley said following the flight. “What a great start for the flight-test program, and a testimony to the people who have worked so hard to make this happen.”
Considered the world’s largest military project involving 11 countries and about 20,000 people worldwide, the F-35, also called the joint strike fighter, is a stealthy, supersonic, multi-role fighter jet that is designed to replace a bevy of aging aircraft, including the F-16, F/A-18 and the Harrier jet.
Lockheed Martin’s Fort Worth facility employs an estimated 4,000 people on the program, including about 180 Parker County residents.
Three of those Parker County residents were still teeming with enthusiasm four days later last Tuesday (Dec. 19).
Allen Vyce, F-35 air frame integrated product team director, beamed when he said he got to shake Beesley’s wet hand – after he was sprayed down with water post-flight.
“Friday was unbelievable; it was emotionally draining,” Vyce said, explaining that there was so much anticipation. “It was a once in a lifetime experience.”
Vyce added that the flight was important because it transforms people from believing there’s airplane work going on to a reality. He said, “It’s taking a vision … and signaling a start of a new era.”
Betty Ann Melanson, F-35 human resources business partner, said that there was an “excitement” in the expansive hallways.
“You could see a different walk in (people’s) step,” she said.
Carll Martinez, F-35 project office director called Friday a “big day.”
“It was a big milestone, but there are a lot of big milestones coming,’ Martinez said. “This was the first of many.”
The flight, which was supposed to last an hour, was largely successful except two airspeed sensors on the aircraft did not operate properly. The glitch did not pose a danger, but it did cause the flight to land early and prevented the completion of a few tests, including raising the landing gear.
Over the next 20 years, production of the F-35 is expected to reach more than 3,000 planes, most of which will be assembled at the Fort Worth plant from globally-produced parts.
Melanson, Vyce and Martinez, each with family members working at Lockheed Martin, agreed that F-35’s production in Fort Worth will be boost to the area.
“It could do nothing but help programs and help schools,” Melanson, a 1980 Aledo High School graduate, said. “It will help develop the community, the kids and the way of life.”
Martinez, whose wife also works on the program echoed the sentiment.
“It’s a lot of jobs for a long time” added Martinez, who has a son at Aledo Middle School.
The United States, Great Britain, the Netherlands, Australia and Canada have signed commitments to purchase F-35s, and four partner countries – including Italy, Turkey, Denmark and Norway, along with other nations – are also expected to buy planes.
For more on this story, see the Dec. 22 issue of The Community News.
