Defense News has a series of shocking stories about the F-35

Defense News:

The Pentagon is battling the clock to fix serious, unreported F-35 problems

Defense News exclusively obtained documents detailing the F-35 jet's most serious deficiencies.

Two F-35 partners threatened to quit the program. Here’s why they didn’t.

How serious were the problems? Serious enough that a couple countries threatened to pull out of the program, according to U.S. Defense Department documents.

 

Supersonic speeds could cause big problems for the F-35′s stealth coating

Supersonic flight at the edge of the F-35 jet's flight envelope could cause structural damage or degrade its stealth coating, warn documents

A fix is coming for a problem that left two F-35 pilots in ‘excruciating’ pain

Oxygen deprivation isn't the only issue known to cause physiological episodes among F-35 pilots.

When the F-35 blows a tire, it can set off a chain reaction of potential failures.

The problem has been fixed in the carrier variant, but why aren't the "A" and "B" models getting the same correction?

FAQ: Your guide to understanding how the military rates F-35 technical shortfalls

 

When US Navy and Marine F-35 pilots most need performance, the aircraft becomes erratic

The U.S. Navy and Marine Corps’ F-35s become unpredictable to handle when executing the kind of extreme maneuvers a pilot would use in a dogfight or while avoiding a missile.

The Marine Corps’ ‘No. 1 priority’ for the F-35 involves a rough landing in hot environments

When it's a hot one, the F-35B might struggle to land safely. And that could be bad news for industry.

Monday links

May 12 was the birthday of Victorian poet and artist Dante Gabriel Rossetti - here's a brief bio, some art and poetry, and a bit on his obsession with wombats.

Ancient Chinese Buildings Are Held Together With Sticky Rice.

This Plane Accidentally Flew Around the World - After Pearl Harbor, the crew of Pan Am flight 18602 was forced to do the impossible.

Five medieval toothpaste recipes, plus more medieval dental advice.

Why Do Cats—and So Many Other Animals—Look Like They’re Wearing Socks?

Why You Feel the Urge to Jump — The science and philosophy of looking down from a high place.

ICYMI, Friday's links are here, and include a roundup of Mother's Day links, the 1970s flying Winnebago, an explanation of why we forget what we're doing when we enter a room, and, for Fred Astaire's birthday, clips of some of his best dancing.

Wednesday links

Today is V.E. Day: on May 8, 1945, World War 2 ended in Europe.

How the 1969 “Paul McCartney is Dead” Hoax Started at an American College Newspaper and Went Viral.

The physics of fizz.

The recent release of Avenger's: Engame brings to mind another Captain America movie - the 1973 Turkish version in which he teams up with a Mexican wrestler and fights evil Spiderman (who murders people with, among other things, shower nozzles and guinea pigs).

Why The Concorde Is Such a Badass Plane.

The Strange Tale of the Great 1911 Trans-Saharan Ostrich Heist.

ICYMI, most recent links are here, and include the dark origins of Snow White, plastic surgeons sculpting belly fat into chiseled six-packs, the history and invention of Jell-O, and, for Oliver Cromwell's birthday, his excellent (and evergreen) speech throwing out the corrupt Parliament (plus the posthumous travels of his head).

The Guy Who Makes the World’s Best Paper Airplanes

In this video from WIRED, John Collins (website), aka "The Paper Airplane Guy," who's devoted the last two decades of his life to paper airplanes, talks about how he designs and flies the world's best and coolest paper planes.

via Tastefully Offensive