People Are Bashing The F-35 Over This Picture Of It Flying With An F-16

USAF The cool shot in this post was shared by the Thunderbirds on their Facebook page. It shows a USAF F-35A forming up on right wing of the F-16 #1 leader of the U.S. Air Force demo team. By looking at the configuration of the two aircraft and the AOA (Angle Of Attack) – the angle between the relative wind and a reference line on the airplane or wing – it’s pretty clear that the aircraft are flying at low speed, in an attempt to match the airspeed of a slow camera ship. Noticing that the F-35 is flying with a higher AOA than the F-16, many people have used the photograph to criticize the Lockheed Martin’s fifth generation stealth jet as if the fact that the JSF (Joint Strike Fighter) was flying “nose high” is the umpteenth sign that the aircraft is a fiasco: criticizing the F-35 has become somehow “fashionable.” Actually, it’s not the case.