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THE REAL F-35 LIGHTNING II
The F-35 Lightning II is a fifth-generation, single-seat, single-engine stealth multirole fighter that can perform close air support, tactical bombing, and air defense missions.
New in Version 1.15, September 8th 2010
- Redone tailhook area geometry and animations, now based on arrested landings pictures. No clear images of that area are publicly available at present, but now should be closer to the real deal.
- Removed antenna from the top surfaces for all the “operational” models. This is based on pictures of the real AF-3 aicraft (the first equipped with mission avionics). Most probably replaced with internal antenna.
- Modified wing vapor and whiskers effects
- Modified afterburner effect (more accurate color, much longer flame in zone 3, less bleeding)
- Virtual HUD: updated conditions to the ground proximity warning, plus a more accurate formula for overlaying the diamond box on the VOR station.
New in Version 1.1
- Added wing vapor effect (the effect shows when G force is in excess of 4.5 g's). NOTE: In the previous release, a provisional vapor effect was included for a mistake.
- Added “whiskers” effect (the effect shows when the AoA is in excess of 25 degrees), as seen on real F-35 pictures.
- Added visual model with two external tanks + 2 JDAMs + 2 Sidewinders
- Fixed minor texturing problem with main gear tires
- Fixed (mock) gun rounds (internal gun has 180 rounds only)
- Fixed minor graphics glitch in the FUEL panel
- Optimized MFD rendering resolution
- Minor visibility condition oprimizations
- Fixed minor texturing problem with ejection gear handle
- Added different pilot face textures for different aircraft
- Fixed emergency landing gear system modeling
- Added alternate aircraft.cfg with incorrect landing gear contact points but no micro-oscillations
- Updated manual accordingly and fixed miscellaneous typos.
AIRCRAFT DATA
| General Characteristics
Crew: 1
Length: 51.4 ft (15.67 m)
Wingspan: 35 ft (10.7 m)
Height: 14.2 ft [nb 1] (4.33 m)
Wing area: 460 ft² (42.7 m²)
Empty weight: 29,300 lb (13,300 kg)
Loaded weight: 44,400 lb (20,100 kg)
Max takeoff weight: 70,000 lb (31,800 kg)
Powerplant: 1× Pratt & Whitney F135 afterburning turbofan
Dry thrust: 28,000 lbf (125 kN)
Thrust with afterburner: 43,000 lbf (191 kN)
Internal fuel: 18,480 lb (8,382 kg)
Performance
Maximum speed: Mach 1.67 (1,283 mph, 2,065 km/h)
Range: 1,200 nmi (2,220 km) on internal fuel
Combat radius: 610 nmi (1,110 km) on internal fuel
Service ceiling: 60,000 ft (18,288 m)
Rate of climb: classified (not publicly available)
Wing loading: 91.4 lb/ft² (446 kg/m²)
g-Limits: 9 g
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Armament
Guns: 1 × GAU-22/A 25 mm (0.984 in) cannon internally with 180 rounds
Hardpoints: 6× external pylons on wings with a capacity of 15,000 lb (6,800
kg) and 2 × internal bays with 2 pylons each for a total weapons payload of
18,000 lb (8,100 kg) and provisions to carry combinations of:
Missiles: Air-to-air: AIM-120 AMRAAM, AIM-132 ASRAAM, AIM-9X Sidewinder, IRIS-T
Air-to-ground: AGM-154 JSOW, AGM-158 JASSM
Bombs: Mark 84, Mark 83 and Mark 82 GP bombs
Mk.20 Rockeye II cluster bomb; Wind Corrected Munitions Dispenser capable;
Paveway-series laser-guided bombs;
Small Diameter Bomb; JDAM-series;B61 nuclear bomb.
Avionics
AN/APG-81 AESA-radar; Electro-Optical Targeting System (EOTS); AN/AAQ-37
distributed aperture system (DAS); AN/ASQ-239 “Barracuda” Electronic Warfare
system; Multifunction Advanced Data Link
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FEATURES AND LIMITATIONS OF THE SIMULATED F-35 LIGHTNING II
In order to provide a higher quality product, and keep the development time within reasonable limits, this package depicts only the F-35A, that is the
Conventional Take-Off and Landing version. While we tried our best to provide a realistic F-35 for Flight Simulator, this rendition of the F-35 Lightning II suffers from several limitations due to different factors.
As the real aircraft is still in development, and detailed and accurate drawings are not publicly available, the virtual rendition may be inaccurate in some details. Also, since the real aircraft is equipped with a revolutionary avionics suite, most of the exotic features are missing from this simulation.
Last, obviously, while the flight modeling has been kept as close as possible to the publicly available data and reflect the pireps, we cannot guarantee any
level of accuracy.
Any known inaccuracy, artistic license or difference from the real aircraft or any major limitation of this package, either due to Flight Simulator X restrictions or due to product design, will be highlighted in the manual.
FEATURES
External visual model:
High detail FSX:Acceleration native visual models, depicting the initial prototype AA-1, the weight optimized prototype AF-1 and production F-35A
(without external loads / with external JDAMs and AIM-9Ls / with external CBU and AIM-9Ls) Due to the high polycount, the model may not be suitable as AI plane, nor for large multiplayer formation flights.
Virtual cockpit model:
Accurate visual model based on publicly available images and information.
Cockpit layout and textures based on high definition photos of the F-35 AA-1 prototype. Some canopy details based of F-35 BF-02.
Custom collimated Virtual HUD and .XML code.
Flight modeling:
Custom flight model based on publicly available aircraft and engine performance data, test pilots reports and interviews.
Where estimated had to be made, the rationale has been engineering judgment against F-16 performance.
Sound:
No custom sound package is provided.
Sound is aliased from the default Acceleration Hornet; sound may be missing if the Acceleration package is not installed correctly.
Requirements
Microsoft Flight Simulator X:Acceleration or Gold versions. Will not work correctly or at all with other Flight Simulator versions. |
