EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. (AFNS) — With the arrival of the joint strike
fighter, the military continues setting the historic milestones for the
worldwide aviation industry in preparing the first F-35 Lightning II
pilots.

Lt. Col. Eric Smith became a part of history himself recently as
the first Airman to fly the new stealth fighter for his service, an honor he
said he never expected during his 16 years in an Air Force flight
suit.

“It all came to light six months ago,” said Smith, who moved to the
33rd Fighter Wing in 2009 after spending two years as a developmental test pilot
with the 46th Test Wing here. “I was picked because of my test background and
the training I had in 2005.”

At Eglin, he was able to apply his
experience flying A-10 Thunderbolt IIs and F-16 Fighting Falcons to the test
mission before transferring over to the 33rd FW just as the wing ended its era
of F-15 Eagle air dominance.

“Taking off in the F-35 for the first time,
I experienced an adrenaline rush like I hadn’t felt since I flew an A-10 for the
first time,” Smith said. “The difference this time is the fact that the F-35 is
such a new airplane. If something goes wrong, you may be the first pilot to deal
with the problem with only your previous fighter experience to rely on.
Fortunately, my first flight went off without a hitch.”

As an A-10 pilot,
he knew the risks of flying in a single seat aircraft.

“Your first
flight in an unfamiliar airplane means it’s also your first solo flight,” he
said. “Once you leave the ground you have the next two hours to figure out how
to safely land the jet.”

The pilot spent a month flying F-35 test
missions to ensure the Air Force’s smooth transition from developmental test
flights at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., to the training flights that are
scheduled to begin here by the end of the year.

Air Force Materiel
Command’s training program at Edwards is designed for test pilot school
graduates with flight hours in a variety of airframes, Smith said. The pilot
completed courses in F-35 academics, emergency procedures via simulator, engine
run and high-speed taxi with three F-35 flights, while an instructor pilot flew
in a chase plane.

“I’m extremely thrilled to be honored as the first Air
Education and Training Command F-35 instructor pilot,” Smith said. “It means a
lot to me but more for the 33rd FW who can now execute the training plan they
have been working on for two years. We have a great team and will soon begin
training F-35 pilots and maintainers.”

Smith will oversee flight
operations of the initial F-35 pilot cadre as the director of operations for the
58th Fighter Squadron. He said the training program here will be more robust
than what he needed to qualify in the F-35.

A student pilot at Eglin
will receive approximately 200 hours of academics, 14 simulators, a high-speed
taxi and six flights in the airplane before deemed qualified. Technological
advances in virtual reality pilot and maintenance training is the biggest
difference 33rd FW students will experience with the military’s latest weapons
system.

“I’ve got 80 hours in the simulator and only logged nine actual
flying hours,” Smith said. “That is a testament to how good the simulator is.
Everything is digital.”

Other new devices to be introduced are the F-35’s
unique set of pilot flight equipment, including an anti-gravity suit, a jacket
with integral arm restraints and a helmet-mounted display system.

“It
forced me to change all of my habits when it came to ‘strapping on’ the jet (for
the first time),” Smith said. “The HMD is an extremely complex piece of
equipment that uses two projectors to display independent images on the pilot’s
display visor.”

The pilot said it took approximately six hours to fit and
focus the helmet that will eventually give pilots a full 360-degree view around
them in flight using cameras located around the exterior of the aircraft.

The F-35 helmet-mounted display system provides a combination of impact
protection, heads-up display information and night vision, combining legacy
aircraft systems into a single unit, according to officials with Lockheed
Martin.

Smith’s experiences will be shared among an integrated team of
33rd FW Nomads, who now prepare for a pipeline of students from three different
branches of service.

With the success of 5th generation stealth aviation
training at the wing, the F-35 will provide air dominance to the U.S. and its
coalition partners for the next several decades, he said.

As for Smith,
he’ll continue to support the Air Force test mission at Edwards temporarily and
return to Eglin as a senior leader for a squadron to which he personally
delivered the first aircraft.

Source and photo: USAF