Lt. Col. Brian W. Bann Becomes First Pilot To Hit 1000 Flight Hours In F-35 Fighter Jet

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According to U.S. Marine Corps press release, U.S. Marine Corps Lt. Col. Brian W. Bann, a Marine Corps F-35B pilot, became the first military pilot to accumulate more than 1,000 flight hours in the F-35 Lightning II when he delivered a new production F-35B to Marine Aircraft Group 13 at Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Yuma, Ariz. on December 11.

Lt. Col. Bann was commissioned in the Marine Corps in 2000 and has since accumulated over 3,000 hours in fighter aircraft.

He previously flew the AV-8B Harrier II with Marine Attack Squadron 211 at MCAS Yuma, Ariz. and the F-16 Fighting Falcon with the 55th Fighter Squadron at Shaw Air Force Base (AFB), S.C. while serving on an inter-service pilot exchange tour with the U.S. Air Force.

Congratulations to Lt. Col. Brian W. Bann on becoming the first military pilot to accumulate more than 1,000 flight hours in @thef35 when he delivered a new production F-35B to Marine Aircraft Group 13. Semper Fi, Sir. pic.twitter.com/bJLkvF8gSU — U.S. Marines (@USMC) January 29, 2020

On April 8, 2013, Bann became one of the first Marine Corps pilots, and the 81st pilot ever, to fly the Joint Strike Fighter at Eglin AFB, Fla.

He then served as an F-35B Instructor Pilot and helped stand up Marine Fighter Attack Training Squadron 501 at MCAS Beaufort, S.C.

Bann is an acceptance test pilot for all three fifth-generation fighter variants; he’s currently assigned to the Defense Contract Management Agency at Lockheed Martin’s F-35 production facility in Fort Worth, Texas, according to a news release.

Bann is currently assigned to the Defense Contract Management Agency at the Lockheed Martin F-35 production facility in Fort Worth, Texas.

As the F-35 Acceptance Pilot and Government Flight Representative, Bann conducts acceptance check flights on all three variants of the F-35 (F-35A/B/C) production aircraft, often delivering them to operational F-35 units.

The F-35B can take off and land vertically, known as Short Takeoff and Vertical Landing (STOVL), from amphibious assault ship flight decks and austere locations with little runway space.

The Marine Corps currently has approximately 100 F-35Bs and F-35Cs in its inventory, based at MCAS Yuma, Ariz., MCAS Beaufort, S.C., MCAS Miramar, Calif., and MCAS Iwakuni, Japan.