F-35 tailhook passes test

The Navy version of the F-35 has passed the first round of tests of its tail hook, the part of the plane that makes traditional carrier arrested landings possible. Joe DellaVedova, F-35 program spokesman, said all flight test objectives were met. CF-3, the first F-35C to be fitted with the redesigned Arresting Hook System, had 36 successful arrested landing tests on land. For the next few months it will undergo field-based ship suitability tests. Carrier flight trials will be in October aboard the USS Nimitz (Source: Breaking Defense, 02/05/14) Gulf Coast note: Eglin Air Force Base is home of the F-35 training center; naval aviators' initial training is at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Fla., and Naval Air Station Whiting Field, in Milton, Fla.