November 28, 2012
Deepak Joseph, Vice President Internal of the AIAA University of Texas at Austin Student Chapter, writes about his experience about touring the Lockheed Martin Facility.
With the generous assistance and support of the Department of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics, members of The University of Texas AIAA student chapter were able to participate in an amazing field trip to the Lockheed Martin facility in Dallas Fort Worth this fall. The facility is the headquarters of the Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company where they house the F-16 Fighting Falcon and the F-35 Lightning II. The facility is also responsible for the final assembly of the aircraft.
As part of the tour given by ex-Navy engineer Eric Williams, we had the opportunity to see the F-16 and the F-35 assembly lines. Eric was very knowledgeable about every aspect of the company business. He was able to explain to us the economic and engineering principles that go into the making of a fighter jet.
We were very excited to see some of the engineering material we have been learning in class being applied to actual airplanes. The facility assembles all three types of F-35s – the CTOL, STOVL and the CV. The F-35 technology is on another level; the pilot can see through the airplane due to the advanced display on the helmet he wears (similar to the one in the movie Iron man) and cameras are also located on the plane! Each airplane is worth more than $65 million dollars. We were also able to watch one perform a flyover during our visit.
The department's support was a driving factor in making this trip happen. This was a wonderful opportunity and we are very grateful.
