Hobby Master Archive

Lockheed Martin F-35B Bu.No. 168719 c/n BF-21 made its maiden flight on October 24 2012. On November 16, 2012 168719 was accepted for service as VK-01 and in January 2013 was assigned to VMFA-121 “Green Knights” based at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, Arizona. For 2 weeks in May 2015 168719 along with four other aircraft from VMFA-121 and two from VMFAT-501 carried out the first phase of shipboard operational testing on the USS Wasp. This marked the second time F-35 operated from an assault carrier.