About This File
Love it or hate it, the F35 joint strike fighter is here and entering operational service around the world. This model for X-plane is an attempt at a faithful representation of this next generation stealth fighter, and also my first fully custom plane (which was not the easiest to model!).
I’ve taken as much as I can from publicly available sources (press releases, videos, the infamous pilot dog fighting report, etc) for input into the model, as well as the cockpit. Some artistic liberty was taken with the cockpit, as there simply aren’t enough public photos which show the entire cockpit without certain items covered over. However, it is fully functional, and mimics the actual touch screen display. An X-plane GPS is integrated into the plane as well for improved navigation, and can be clicked to pop out for usage. One of the forward displays turns to night vision when flying around in the dark. There is a weapons camera display integrated, along with others. The cockpit brightness can be adjusted using the ‘BRT’ arrows under the ‘MFD’ section. Other knobs and arrows are non-functional presently on the MFD and HMD panel.
The standard weapons loadout for the plane is 2x 2000lb laser-guided bombs (essentially JDAMs), and 2x AMRAAMs. To arm, push the ‘arm’ button for where these weapons are located in the bay- either inboard out outboard. To open the inner or outer bay doors, click the knob around the ‘arm’ button and note it rotate from ‘C’ (closed) to ‘O’ (open). The gun works in the same manner, and one can arm and open the gun door in the same way. If you’d like to target a plane, you can hover your mouse wheel over the ‘target’ switch and scroll through, or click manually. Scrolling is the easier option I’ve found. The target index is also shown, as well as highlighting the targeted plane object on the display.
It is possible to refuel the plane- simply flip the switch on the pilots left arm panel to open the door and pull up to your favorite tanker.
A HUD is shown, fixed to the top of the panel. In the real plane, this is obviously an integral part of the helmet, however I took the liberty to fix the display for ease of modeling. Critical details are shown; various speeds, Mach number, altitudes, angle of attack, and g forces.
I’ve attempted to make the flight model match reports and actual maneuvers from videos vs. being unrealistically simple and optimistic. The plane will bleed off speed in high speed turns, accelerates roughly the same as the real version, and is not as maneuverable as something like an F16. Takeoff speed is 160-180 knots. It can be landed ~150 knots pleasantly, and one can hold the nose high after touchdown to aerodynamically brake as well. My control sensitivities are as follows: 0% stability augmentation for pitch, roll and yaw, and a control response rate of 83% for pitch, roll and yaw. I’ve designed and tested this with X-plane 11.05.
Hopefully you enjoy the plane- it was a great learning process to make and test fly. I’ll try to add more details and functionality over time, however as it stands, it is a pleasure to fly around.
What's New in Version 1.0.2 See changelog
Released
Added the missing airfoils directory....and ALL of the missing airfoils this time
