Fighting Falcon

An F-16 Fighting Falcon pilot soars over the Gulf of Mexico during a sortie with F-35A Lightning IIs from the 33rd Fighter Wing. (U.S. Air Force photo/Capt. Edward Schmitt)

JSF X 4

A four-ship of F-35A Lightning IIs flies over the Gulf of Mexico Feb. 1 before returning to Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. Pilots with the 33rd Fighter Wing began flying the formation the first time here last week. (U.S. Air Force photo/Capt. Edward Schmitt)

Eglin F-35s

Two F-35 Lightning II joint strike fighter aircraft from Eglin Air Force Base, Fla.(Courtesy photo)

Greetings

Lt. Col. Brian O'Neill, 31st Test and Evaluation Squadron director of operations and a "student" in the Air Force F-35A Lightning II Operational Utility Evaluation, salutes his crew chief before his postflight inspection Nov. 14 at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. He became qualified to fly the aircraft during the last sortie of the service’s evaluation of the 33rd Fighter Wing's joint strike fighter training program, a necessary review for Air Education and Training Command to decide if the unit is “ready for training” next year. O’Neill will return to the 31st TES, a geographically separated unit of the 53rd Wing at Edwards AFB, Calif., where the Air Force will eventually begin operational testing on the new aircraft. (U.S. Air Force photo/Maj. Karen Roganov)

500

The Integrated Test Force here completed its 500th combined sortie for both the F-35A conventional takeoff and landing and F-35B short takeoff and vertical landing aircraft Nov. 2. Flight operations for the F-35 began on the Emerald Coast March 6. There are currently 22 F-35s at Eglin as the fleet continues to grow supporting the team as it trains instructor pilots and maintainers. The team accomplished the 500 sorties in 238 days cutting the time between each milestone sortie. (Lockheed Martin photos by Neal Chapman)

F-35 progression

Tech. Sgt. Jeremy Pressley, of the 33rd Maintenance Operations Squadron, is the first maintainer to complete an F-135 engine run. He will be an instructor for next few maintainers chosen to go through the F-35A engine run course. Having maintenance personnel conduct engine runs frees up pilots for training missions and allows the jets to get fixed faster. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Bruce Ferris)