Please join us this month via Zoom when Paul Bevilaqua, retired Chief Engineer of the Lockheed Martin Skunk Works, presents the technical and programmatic challenges involved in developing the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. Beginning with a review of the history and design principles of V/STOL aircraft, Dr. Bevilaqua will take us through the JSF competition, with a hard look at each entrant as well as the evolution of Lockheed’s winning design into the F-35A, B, and C for the U.S. Air Force, Marine Corps, and Navy, and the air forces of a dozen allied nations.
Dr. Bevilaqua has spent much of his career developing V/STOL aircraft, first as an Air Force officer followed by Rockwell International and Lockheed Martin. He is an AIAA Fellow, recipient of the Guggenheim Medal for lifetime achievement in aeronautics, and led the F‑35 propulsion team that received the Collier trophy, which each year recognizes “the greatest achievement in aeronautics or astronautics in America” for the demonstration of his innovative lift/cruise propulsion system.