Royal Navy Cmdr. Nathan Gray, F-35 Pax River ITF test

Royal Navy Cmdr. Nathan Gray, F-35 Pax River ITF test pilot, conducts short take offs and vertical landings with an F-35B on Aug. 23, 2018, at NAS Patuxent River as part of the workups for the First of Class Flight Trials aboard the HMS Queen Elizabeth.
Around 200 supporting staff from the ITF, including pilots, engineers, maintainers and data analysts, will take two F-35Bs test aircraft aboard HMS Queen Elizabeth this fall to evaluate the fifth-generation aircraft performance and integration with Royal Navy’s newest aircraft carrier. This fixed wing test period brings the U.K. one step closer to carrier strike capabilities.