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7/19/2025, 8:22:56 AM
>>64001561
Have a thread about how they discovered that problem
https://nitter.poast.org/the_engi_nerd/status/1942376323751563593#m
> Two photos here from the USAF. The first is from 2013, with a maintainer opening an F-35's Maintenance Interface Panel (MIP). The second photo is more recent, showing a maintainer performing the same task. But something's changed: the MIP now has marks near each fastener. Why?
> The answer is: to give the maintainer a visual confirmation that they've properly closed the door prior to flight. And like everything, there's a story about what happens when that door ISN'T closed.
> In 2015, F-35B BF-04 was slated to perform some supersonic weapons environmental tests. One fine sunny day, we were doing just that: opening up the right hand weapons bay, exposing the stores there to the supersonic environment.
> But, apparently the ground crew had not properly closed BF-04's MIP prior to this supersonic run. After aerial refueling, the F-18 chase pilot came on the radio: "TEST, CHASE, there is a hole in the starboard side of your aircraft, just aft of your intake."
Have a thread about how they discovered that problem
https://nitter.poast.org/the_engi_nerd/status/1942376323751563593#m
> Two photos here from the USAF. The first is from 2013, with a maintainer opening an F-35's Maintenance Interface Panel (MIP). The second photo is more recent, showing a maintainer performing the same task. But something's changed: the MIP now has marks near each fastener. Why?
> The answer is: to give the maintainer a visual confirmation that they've properly closed the door prior to flight. And like everything, there's a story about what happens when that door ISN'T closed.
> In 2015, F-35B BF-04 was slated to perform some supersonic weapons environmental tests. One fine sunny day, we were doing just that: opening up the right hand weapons bay, exposing the stores there to the supersonic environment.
> But, apparently the ground crew had not properly closed BF-04's MIP prior to this supersonic run. After aerial refueling, the F-18 chase pilot came on the radio: "TEST, CHASE, there is a hole in the starboard side of your aircraft, just aft of your intake."
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