Lockheed Martin video of the Mar 17 first hover the a STOVL F-35B Joint STrike Fighter, aircraft BF-1, at NAS Patuxent River, Maryland. The flight began with a conventional takeoff before F-35 lead STOVL pilot Graham Tomlinson initiated conversion to STOVL mode at 200 knots airspeed. He then slowed the aircraft to 60 knots and flew a decelerating approach to a zero airspeed hover at 150 feet above the runway. This marked the first free air hover by the F-35B. Upon reaching zero airspeed, the pilot executed test points to confirm the controllability of the aircraft in the hover. After completing all hover test points, the pilot executed a STOVL landing at 70 knots airspeed.
