Pilot can’t wait to get his hands on Air Force’s new F-35A fighter, teach others how to fly it

[unhappycamper]

Pilot can’t wait to get his hands on Air Force’s new F-35A fighter, teach others how to fly it
By Mark Abramson, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Thursday, February 12, 2009

Air Force Maj. Bill Betts is as excited as a teenager about to take his first car out for a spin. Betts is one of the first 10 Air Force pilots who will sit behind the wheel of the service’s next fighter plane: the F-35A Joint Strike Fighter.

Betts, who is now attending the United Kingdom’s Joint Staff College in Shrivenham and usually flies F-16s, will be one of the first instructor pilots on the plane. The F-35, which is expected to enter service in 2013, is intended to replace the F-16 and A-10 in the Air Force.

The Navy and Marines are getting their own version of the single-seat stealth fighter. And the aircraft — depending on the variant — has a price tag of somewhere in the $60 million to $90 million-plus range.

Betts said once he heard the Air Force was searching its ranks for F-35 instructor pilots, he had to submit a one-page resume highlighting his career. His previous instructor experience was a three-year stint as a flight instructor at a weapons school at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev.

"I was tremendously excited. I couldn’t believe it," Betts said about being chosen. "I told my wife (Jennifer) and she went screaming through the house."


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=60655



uhc comment: I call bullshit on the "has a price tag of somewhere in the $60 million to $90 million-plus range". The cost for an F-35 is $239+ million.

[TheCowsCameHome]

1. Maybe this is the stripped down version - no alloy wheels, AM/FM, etc.

Times are tough.

[LiberalFighter]

2. That's the price without the fuel??