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by Richard Tomkins Patuxent River, Md. (UPI) Feb 2, 2015
A U.S. Navy F-35B Lightning II fighter has been undergoing extreme weather testing in temperatures ranging from 120 degrees to minus-40 degrees Fahrenheit. The tests have been taking place at the U.S. Air Force 96th Test Wing's McKinley Climatic Laboratory located at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. "While we are testing in the world's largest climatic testing chamber, we're pushing the F-35 to its environmental limits -- ranging from 120 degrees Fahrenheit to negative 40 degrees, and every possible weather condition in between," F-35 test pilot Billie Flynn, who performed extreme cold testing on the aircraft, was quoted by the U.S. Naval Air Systems Command. "To this point, the aircraft's performance is meeting expectations. It has flown in more than 100 degree heat while also flying in bitter subzero temperatures. In its final days of testing, it will fly through ice and other conditions such as driving rain with hurricane force winds." The Navy said the tests have been going on for four months, with two months remaining to finish putting the aircraft through conditions of wind, solar radiation, fog, humidity, rain intrusion/ingestion, freezing rain, icing cloud, icing build-up, vortex icing and snow. "With 13 countries currently involved with the program, the F-35 must be tested in meteorological conditions representative of those locations from which it will operate, ranging from the heat of the Outback of Australia to the bitter cold of the Arctic Circle above Canada and Norway," the Navy said.
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