USS Nimitiz readies for 1st F-35 carrier landing

Before the Navy’s oldest active aircraft carrier docks for a 16-month maintenance period, it’s helping other ships get ready for deployment, and next month, will host the first landing of the F-35C on a carrier.
The Marine version of the Joint Strike Fighter, the short-takeoff, vertical-landing F-35B, has made successful landings aboard ships at sea. But the Navy’s version, the F-35C, which is designed to land on carriers, has not — in part because of problems with the tail hook.
The landing test will take place on the Nimitz after the conclusion of the current task group exercise, which began Monday off San Diego and includes U.S. guided missile cruisers and guided missile destroyers as well as four Canadian ships and a Yokosuka-based Japanese ship.
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