The first production version of the Air Force's F-35 Lightning II fighter successfully completed its inaugural flight today at Lockheed Martin's testing and production facility in Ft. Worth, TX. Accompanied by two F-16s and one F/A-18 fighter, a conventional takeoff and landing (CTOL) variant of the F-35 flew a 40-minute mission, climbing up to 15,000 feet, and performing a "series of maneuvers to test the aircraft's handling and the operation of the engine and subsystems," according to a Dec. 15...
