Missing F-35

[Kurr]

 

[Titanium_Frost]

They don't have LoJack on an $80m plane???

 

[DeadeyeChrista'sdad]

Dang it! If only they hadn't made those things so dern difficult to find!

 

[Cameramonkey]

Whoopsies!

Wait, does Russia have an equivalent to Mitchell Gant? If so are we sure this is really a punchout?

And who punches out on auto pilot? Is that like a desk pop? At $35M, that would be like a desk mag dump, reload/repeat until dry.

 

[Cameramonkey]

They don't have LoJack on an $80m plane???

you would think there would be an AWACS equivalent.

 

[foszoe]

Whoopsies!

Wait, does Russia have an equivalent to Mitchell Gant? If so are we sure this is really a punchout?

And who punches out on auto pilot? Is that like a desk pop? At $35M, that would be like a desk mag dump, reload/repeat until dry.

Maybe he thought he was in a flight sim

 

[blain]

They know the fuel burn rate. So at least they know where NOT to look.
I'd suggest they look for a fiery crash site. 911 calls should lead them in the right direction.

 

[Kurr]

Skynet has started!!! The AI got an upgrade an kicked out the pilot!!

 

[indykid]

So stealthy that they can't even find it in someone's back yard.

 

[bwframe]

 

[Dean C.]

This is hilarious in a sad way, but if our own radar can't track it neither can the commies I guess.

 

[Expat]

It wouldn’t surprise me if the Chinese already have “recovered” it.

 

[Creedmoor]

"Do you want to play a game"

 

[KellyinAvon]

I'm late to the party on this one.

First thought was, "I've never heard of the Military asking for the public's help finding a crash site." Seriously, .mil is really good at finding crash sites. They've had over a century of practice.

This would be the VSTOL (vertical/short take-off and landing) variant of the F-35 since it was a USMC aircraft.

Sure it's stealthy, but this thing shoulda been squawking all kinds of signals. This is Charleston, not Kirkuk or Ramadi.

There's generally a loud BOOM when the large hole is created. This is followed by a huge smoke plume.

MANY MANY years ago I heard of a 2-seater (T-38 IIRC) recovering and landing after the back-seater punched out. That wasn't auto-pilot, that was an instructor pilot with some mad-skills. It would be easier for a machine to recover than a human.

Maybe the AI punched him out of the aircraft and took off to complete the mission.

F-35 jet reported missing by authorities after pilot ejects during 'mishap': Officials

Joint Base Charleston announced that they are searching for a missing F-35 jet that a pilot ejected from on Sunday. It is suspected to have crashed north of the Air Force base.

www.foxnews.com

 

[littletommy]

At the Air Force museum in Dayton they have an F101 (I think, been a few years since I’ve been up there) that landed itself after the pilot ejected. I think it did a wheels up belly slide in the desert somewhere. Not many large flat areas in the northeast, though, aside from the Atlantic.

 

[tomcat13]

Have they looked in Biden's Garage?

 

[Mongo59]

The .mil is taking bids to feel up Boebert next to the crash site for charity.

Keeping all my current events in a row...

 

[rhamersley]

 

[erasure]

At the Air Force museum in Dayton they have an F101 (I think, been a few years since I’ve been up there) that landed itself after the pilot ejected. I think it did a wheels up belly slide in the desert somewhere. Not many large flat areas in the northeast, though, aside from the Atlantic.

First thing I thought of.

Cornfield Bomber - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Cameramonkey]

It’s so stealthy that even the smoke when it crashes is invisible.

View attachment 300152

I laughed y too hard at this because I could hear Larry singing that.