First F-35B Transported by CH-53K to MCAS Beaufort to be Retired as Static Display

Airframe BF-01 performed the F-35’s first vertical landing on Mar. 18, 2010, and the first vertical takeoff on May 10, 2013, at NAS Patuxent River.

The first F-35B Lightning II STOVL (Short Take-Off Vertical Landing) jet to be built, and which performed the type’s first vertical take off and landing, was transported by a U.S. Marine Corps CH-53K King Stallion heavy lift helicopter to MCAS Beaufort, South Carolina, on Aug. 27, 2025 . The aircraft will be retired there as a static display. Contents Airframe BF-01 performed the F-35’s first vertical landing on Mar. 18, 2010, and the first vertical takeoff on May 10, 2013, at NAS Patuxent River. First F-35B retires The mission Previous F-35 ‘lifts’ by CH-53K

Classified as a flight sciences test aircraft, airframe “BF-01” flew