See the US Air Force's 'Franken-bird' F-35 made from wrecked stealth fighters take its first flight
Restoring the salvaged 'Franken-bird' F-35A Lightning fighter jet cost an estimated $6 million, a fraction of the $80 million ...
Interesting Engineering on MSN17d
US Air Force builds $80M F-35A for just $6M by merging parts from two crashed jets
In a notable achievement, Airmen from the 388th Fighter Wing have successfully restored an F-35A Lightning II aircraft, merging the remnants of two damaged jets into a single operational unit. This ...
First-ever fully operational F-35 rebuilt from separate crash casualties
Combining major structures from separate F-35s to build a fully operational plane is an Air Force first. Both these damaged ...
The Aviationist18d
‘Franken-Lightning’ Built From Two Damaged F-35s Returns to Operational Fleet
(U.S Air Force courtesy photo) Once returned at Hill AFB, the aircraft was hangared in the 4th Fighter Generation Squadron, where maintainers worked on the final stages of its restoration.