(percussive music)
- [Andy] This is a first.
The F-35B has never touched the deck
of HMS Queen Elizabeth, or the classic carrier,
and that's what First of Class flight trials is.
It's bringing those two systems together,
the F-35 and the ship, and making sure
they're interoperable, and melding the two together
so we have a true fighting system
to move forward for the next 50 years.
(jet engines whine)
(rock music)
- To turn that corner and look at HMS Queen Elizabeth
sat in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean
with its own guard ship, the British guard ship,
sat next to it was, filled me with pride.
- It really was a momentous occasion.
The eyes of the UK and defense were watching us
to see how we performed.
So when those aircraft first arrived,
a personal connection in eighth grade
who was flying that lead aircraft,
good friend of mine, we flew Harriers together
many years ago.
To see the jet in the hover alongside
and then finally land vertically on the deck
was a real key moment, yeah.
I think a massive sense of relief,
but for everybody it was opening that next chapter
of carrier aviation for the Royal Navy
as F-35B landed on the Queen Elizabeth class,
HMS Queen Elizabeth.
Yeah, that was the start of the next 50 years
of what we're gonna do with this ship.
(dramatic music)
Back in 2010 it was quite, in fact very mixed emotions.
It was a privilege to fly the last Harrier ever
from HMS Ark Royal, an Invincible class aircraft carrier.
The mixed emotions were, that was the shutdown
of our carrier strike capability for the Royal Navy
and for the UK.
- It was difficult to contemplate taking a decade
out of carrier strike.
But there was a promise, and there was a carrot
dangled at the end of the line in front of us
that in a decade's time, there would be this
immense capability, and that was gonna be F-35B
on HMS Queen Elizabeth.
- The carrier's built specifically for the F-35.
We call it a fifth gen carrier.
It's got all the systems that have been engineered
and built into the aircraft carrier
purely for the F-35.
So no other carrier in the world is being built
just for the F-35.
And from the embryonic stage,
this carrier was built just for this air vehicle.
It feels like we've moved forward about a generation
in true capability, and so it's incredibly impressive
the advances that have been made
just in a short period of time.
And the UK are gonna be very, very, very impressed
with what they get at the end of this trial.
(rock music)
There are three elements of the total uniqueness
of this ship: the ski jump, the twin islands,
and then the shipboard rolling vertical landing.
The F-35B can land with forward speed now.
It can land on a ship with about 30 - 35 knots
of overtake, and it doesn't need any braking assistance.
It doesn't need an arrestor hook.
It doesn't need arrestor gear.
It just comes down in its semi-jetborne mode
and it hits the deck.
We jump on the brakes, we bring it to a full stop.
And this has never been done before.
So that was by far one of the greatest accomplishments
of this trial.
- From the VL side, we've proven the vertical landing
capability of the aircraft out on the amphibious
assault ships.
Now we're just doing it on this carrier,
specifically evaluating the turbulent effect
of wind over deck with the specific ship structures
that are here on the flight deck.
The ski jump ramp is not new to us as a flight test team.
We have a land-based ramp that we evaluated at Pax River.
Slightly different profile here on the ship,
so we're just evaluating the launch characteristics,
everything from the loads that are imparted
on the landing gear, to how the aircraft handles
on the flight deck with a cross wind,
to its launch performance as it goes off the ramp exit.
(energetic music)
- This trial has been the focus of our lives,
so many people's lives for the last two years.
It's not all about the eight weeks on board.
In fact, it's mostly about the two years
that led up to this.
- The proudest moment that I'll look back to
is thinking of the people.
All the people within the F-35 ITF,
such fiercely intelligent people working so hard,
so dedicated to the cause of making this air vehicle
the best in the world, which it is.
But then also the people who built this carrier,
and then more importantly, the people who actually
live on board the carrier.
This is a floating city, and it's the people on board
right now that are making this happen,
and those people won't change over 50 years.
That's the defining moment to them.
- The total professionalism, the total dogged determination,
and the utter sacrifice that people have made
in order to get to the point where we can fly on board
this ship, and absolutely knock it out of the park.
That is what I will remember.
Satisfaction lies in the effort, not in the attainment.
Full effort is full victory.
Now we're going to walk off this ship
knowing that we put in full effort,
and that's why we'll walk off the ship
feeling fully victorious.