What it's like to demo a USAF F-35A at an airshow

Key.Aero meets Capt Kristin ‘BEO’ Wolfe, the 2020 US Air Force F-35A demonstration team pilot.

A still winter morning, but the silence is shattered by the roar of an F-35A getting airborne from Hill AFB, Utah, the afterburner crackling as the noise of the Pratt & Whitney F135 engine reverberates off the nearby mountains. In the cockpit is Capt Kristin ‘BEO’ Wolfe, the new F-35A Demonstration Team commander and pilot. During this practice display, she puts on a fierce demonstration, taking the Lightning to the absolute edge of its aerobatic envelope.

F-35A Demo Team [Rob van Disseldorp] #1
Capt Kristin ‘BEO” Wolfe and her mount — the F-35A Lightning II. Report and photos: Rob van Disseldorp

A still winter morning, but the silence is shattered by the roar of an F-35A getting airborne from Hill AFB, Utah, the afterburner crackling as the noise of the Pratt & Whitney F135 engine reverberates off the nearby mountains. In the cockpit is Capt Kristin ‘BEO’ Wolfe, the new F-35A Demonstration Team commander and pilot. During this practice display, she puts on a fierce demonstration, taking the Lightning to the absolute edge of its aerobatic envelope.

On Sep

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