Was watching the video of the 1st VTOL ont he JSF and wondered....What type of controls are on this VTOL Model? Does it have a collective? ANyone know?Gary

IF I'm correct (i'm not sure) what happens is the lift fan lifts the center of mass up, and the rear exhaust not only points down, but vectors a bit to move the aircraft while hovering.

IF I'm correct (i'm not sure) what happens is the lift fan lifts the center of mass up, and the rear exhaust not only points down, but vectors a bit to move the aircraft while hovering.

I mean in the cockpit.. :)

It would not have a collective, since that is the abbreviation for 'collective pitch lever' i.e a control with which you can collectively adjust both the pitch of a helicopter's rotor blades as well as the power setting via a twist throttle. I suspect it is more likely to have a thrust vectoring lever similar to that found in the AV-8 Harrier, which controls the angle of the jet vectoring nozzle and automatically adjusts 'puffer jets' on the aircraft's extremities to keep the thing stable.It would seem sensible to emulate the Harrier's control system in the cockpit, since it is known that it works well and is familiar to pilots who might have to convert from the Harrier to that newer aircraft type.Al

Actually Chock, since the F-35 is fly by wire, and given how digital the cockpit is, I would not be surprised if there was a single vector lever, along with the ability for touch screen interaction with the vector, and everything else was done fly by wire. IIRC the Harrier actually is hydraulic control, while the F-35 is FBW. I see no reason to carry over the old Harrier system which tends to distract pilots and cause crashes, when it can be simplified using FBW.

Isn't that what I said? A single vectoring lever. I was speculating there of course, but the reason they might emulate the vectoring lever that the Harrier has, even though they could do it with a button, is that it works in the same sense of the nozzle movement, so it is intuitively understandable in the same way that landing gear levers move down for the gear going down, and the throttle levers move forward to increase thrust.Al

Isn't that what I said? A single vectoring lever. I was speculating there of course, but the reason they might emulate the vectoring lever that the Harrier has, even though they could do it with a button, is that it works in the same sense of the nozzle movement, so it is intuitively understandable in the same way that landing gear levers move down for the gear going down, and the throttle levers move forward to increase thrust.Al

The harrier IIRC has a lever for each nozzle, so it has a lot of problems with people screwing up and crashing.(Source: Military Channel)

Hovering in the Lightning, It takes the push of a button.

Hovering in the Lightning, It takes the push of a button.

That answered my Orig Question