 So, we're just going to start out with some basic questions. Absolutely. First, it's going to tell you, and then we'll go into why we're here, and kind of talk about the whole stuff about the F-35. Sounds good. Cool. So, first things first, who are you? I'm Lieutenant Chris Caraposteles from Pax River. I'm a test pilot at Pax River. I'm originally a legacy Hornet guy flying the F-18 Charlie. I'm with the test pilot school and I'm stationed at Pax River in VX-23 doing developmental flight tests on the F-35. And how long have you been at Pax River? I've been at Pax River for approximately three years, a year at test pilot school and two years with F-35 program. Now, did you just put your brand into the F-35 program? I did. They call us first tour test guys, so one of the guys that came straight out of test pilot school and got to go straight to F-35. The past? The past. So, obviously, do well in school. So, they want engineering majors and guys that did well in school. They're also looking for guys, a lot of boat and ship experience. So, I've done two deployments and a set of work-ups in my fleet squadron in the F-18 and they're looking for LSOs. So, just that lot of boat experience, both an LSO point of view and just flying aboard the carrier and then do well in test pilot school. We get to go to fly the F-35. I got to go to fly the F-35. At what point of its test cycle are we at right now? So, we're still in definitely the early phase of the F-35 test program. We're still expanding the envelope. So, we're slowly expanding the capability of being able to operate on and off the aircraft carrier. That's fine. That's fine. Yes, please. So, where is the F-35 at the point of its test process right now? So, we're finishing up. We're getting towards the end of STD system development and demonstration. So, the early phase of testing, we're approving the capability aboard the aircraft carrier and just expanding the envelope of being able to launch and recover aboard the aircraft carrier and just operating the carrier environment. So, you talked earlier about learning on the aircraft carrier. Can you elaborate a little bit more about the differences between the two? Oh, absolutely. So, obviously the F-35 is shaped in a different geometry and different geometry constraints. One of the biggest things that makes the F-35 so nice to land aboard the aircraft carrier are the flight controls. We have integrated direct lift control. So, what that means is we move the control services a lot more. And by doing so, we take a lot of the workload away from the pilot and therefore put it on the jet and are able to land a lot more consistently aboard the aircraft carrier with it. It's a lot easier. It reduces pilot workload significantly compared to legacy platforms. So, the main thing we're looking to do here are the big ticket items. Obviously, we're continuing to expand the envelope, the different wind cells. So, the men, the recovery headwinds we're using, you know, crosswind components for both catapult launches and recoveries. The big thing here is max power shots. So, all the afterburner launches, we did a couple of those this morning. I'm doing a look to do some J-PALS work out here, the new Joint Precision Approach Landing System. And as well as night, there'll be some night flying that's going to take place here in a few days. So, those are the big ticket items. So, the entire phase, there should be three DT events and this is the second of the three events that we're on right now. It's really, really neat. I mean, you look at, you know, I look at the Hornet and, you know, you read all lessons learned and you read the manual on it and all these things, all the, you know, notes, warnings and cautions and stuff that were discovered and written by the early test pilots that they gave us. And so, that's kind of cool to be at that phase in a platform's history where we get to write the book on it essentially and how to operate around the carrier and the dos and don'ts that, you know, all the future naval avatars are going to read and adhere to and expand upon, kind of teach, you know, writing how to operate this aircraft around the boat. I would say it's probably not as dangerous as you would think or as the stigma allows. You know, we have a very, if you haven't noticed too, the real muscle behind it out here, all the engineers that you see walking around the ship, you know, we have a lot of very talented individuals, engineering allows them to put a lot of time and rigor into calculating and looking at and then doing analysis on all the test points we're going after. So, nothing we've done on the ship hasn't been, you know, gone through in the simulator, done with, you know, an engineering rigor analysis, gone into it, they've also done it at the field, we have a full catapult and recovery facility up in Pax River. So, we go through all that testing and they come out here, you know, ideally we don't really find anything new and I have a lot of confidence in those guys and so it should be, it should be nothing surprising which it hasn't been yet. Speaking specifically, I would say it's no, I would say in this case right now it's no more than any other aircraft, you know, we need the ship team very much so. So, all the support we get from the ship, you know, everything to the guys working on their resting gear to the catapults and so forth. All the yellow shirts and everyone on deck, the grapes, you know, everyone is very critical in the mission of getting this aircraft off the ship. As far as something unique that comes with F-35, we do have a control room team, a bunch of engineers that are watching and monitoring all the different parameters of the jets while we fly, but honestly, we don't know that would happen without all the guys working really hard on the flight deck and below decks as well, so. So, the next, as far as for the carrier suit, we're looking to do is, so right now we're going to look through some flying with some internal stores, some weapons loaded inside which shouldn't, should be pretty transparent. The next big thing is we're looking on the next deck to do a lot more night flying and then have to look to put external stores on the wings as well, so. Oh, the Ike has been a great host. This is a great ship and it's really, they've been more than welcoming, very accommodating to some of the unique aspects of tests. You know, we're not, we're not the air wing. We do things a little bit, a little bit different, sometimes a little weird to most people, but they have been more than accommodating and they've been, you know, helped us out every turn. Everything from the chow to on deck to taxing, you know, to fly off, it's been great to be on this ship, so. And speaking of the oldest ship, what do you think about that? Oh, I think, I think that's perfect. You know, one of the oldest, one of the oldest ships in the Navy with the newest aircraft, I mean it doesn't get much better than that and I think that age and side number has nothing to do with it. You know, this ship is obviously very well maintained as a rock star crew and it shows throughout the ship, so I think age or the whole number it has nothing to do with it, so. I'd say that, you know, the biggest thing, F-35, you know, is the future. It's an awesome airplane. You start seeing more and more flight decks around here and I think, you know, I'm really excited to be a part of it and I'm excited to let all my buddies start flying it more and get more involved and get the maintainers involved too, so let the fleet start putting their hand prints on it and shape it, so I really, it's really been a neat experience. Yeah. Why is it so great? Well, the helmet, I think the neatest thing about the helmet is just how much information is available and, you know, presented in front of you through the helmet, so in all the aircraft, where you'd have to look down, you know, go heads down, if you will, but the fact that you're able to look out through the canopy and maintain, you know, situational awareness to the carrier, to the aircraft in the pattern but still have all the information you need provided to you through that display is really neat and then, you know, the fact that you can turn your head and see, and still see the information is really cool as well. So, yeah, the helmet, you know, it doesn't have a HUD, like a legacy aircraft, all the information presented us through the helmet and it's just amazing, like I said, how much information is available there. How much of that adds to the... Sorry. How much of that adds to the tactical advantage? Oh, I know, I'm actually, I work as a developmental tester doing air vehicle stuff, so I haven't never actually flown this aircraft in a tactical situation but I can, yeah, I can't really comment on that. Oh, thank you very much, I appreciate it. Thank you, sir. Absolutely.