A Norwegian Air Force pilot flying one of his country's first F-35 Joint Strike Fighters writes that the fifth-generation fighter is a superior dogfighter to the F-16 he is used to, saying that it "allows me to be more forward and aggressive than I could ever be in an F-16." That's good news to F-35 backers who've been seeing stories that the new plane can't hold its own.

In an article in Kampflybloggen, the Norwegian Air Force's official blog, Major Morten Hanche says he's flown more than 2,200 hours in F-16s, is a U.S. Navy Test Pilot School graduate, and was the first Norwegian to fly the F-35. Norway is buying 52 F-35s to replace its aging fleet of F-16s. Hanche has been flying Basic Flight Maneuvers (BFM)—one-on-one dogfights with another plane.

According to him, one advantage of the F-35 is a "significantly higher" angle of attack over the F-16. Angle of Attack is the difference between the angle the plane is flying at and the angle the plane's nose is pointed. As a result, the F-35 can more readily point its nose—and thus its sensors and weapons—at an enemy during a straining, twisting dogfight. According to Hanche, this forces the enemy pilot to react more defensively and allows an F-35 pilot to reduce air speed more quickly if necessary.

The blog post also addresses pilot ergonomics and visibility in the F-35 cockpit. Some have said the design of the F-35 limits pilot visibility, especially when compared to the bubble canopy of the F-16 that affords excellent 360-degree visibility. Hanche states that while it was a problem at first, he's learned to overcome it, and says that it's not a "genuine problem." Curiously, Hanche does not mention the F-35's Distributed Aperture System—a system of infrared cameras allowing the pilot to "see" into his blind spots—as the solution to the problem.

The Norwegian pilot makes many other interesting observations—including that the plane "howls" under certain circumstances. Read his article here (There's English translation on the second half of the page). For U.S. Air Force B-roll footage of Major Hanche's first training sortie, watch here.

So?

meanwhile naija Is still struggling with paralyzed alpha jet

flowjoe:
meanwhile naija Is still struggling with paralyzed alpha jet

Odi kwa shameful, a whole giant of Africa.

otokx:


Odi kwa shameful, a whole giant of
Africa.

nna eh