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F-35 completes first transatlantic flight on delivery to UK
Marines forces on either side of the Atlantic have depended on air support from the versatile AV-8B Harrier jump jet and its marvelous Vertical Take-Off and Landing (VTOL) capability to lift into flight without a runway. But the venerable aircraft has slowly been phased out in favor of the upcoming F-35 Lightning II fighter plane, which will come in a Short Take Off and Vertical Landing (STOVL)-equipped 'B' version. Despite scandals over its bloated budget and delayed schedule, the first F-35B intended for the UK has just finished the jet's first recorded transatlantic flight as it lands in Britain in a video posted by the US Marine Corps.
The UK government is getting its own 'Air Force One'
UK Prime Minister David Cameron and cabinet ministers are set to get their very own Air Force One under new government plans. Reuters reports that as part of a spending review due next week, Chancellor George Osborne will announce that £10 million will be spent on refitting a RAF Voyager A330 aircraft (pictured above), which usually operates as an air-to-air refuelling and transport aircraft, so it can be used for official government trips.
UK radar station causing car engine and electrical troubles
If you happen to live in the small village of Trimingham (population 370) on the northeast coast of Norfolk, England and while driving past the Royal Air Force Trimingham radar station your car's engine and lights seem to be cutting out, or your speedometer is spinning out of control like something straight out of the X-Files, you're not hallucinating. According to the BBC, the Ministry of Defence has "admitted that a fault at a radar dome was responsible for causing electrical problems with dozens of cars" and that it "will consider claims for compensation after and inquiry found the radar was 'out of alignment.'" Apparently this isn't a new problem, given that the dome was previously out of alignment from November 2005 until February 2006, but now the MoD is denying that the problem has resurfaced. However, the local mechanic, Neil Crayford, told the BBC that he's "dealt with 30 calls over a couple of months." We wonder if for a few extra hundred quid Mr. Crayford would hack your in-dash display so that you could use that radar signal to monitor maritime activities in the North Sea.[Via Fark]
