Mountain Home gets first exposure at AF's next-generation fighter

Kyle McGehee points out the features of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter's throttle controls as Kylee Brooks prepares to fly in the company's jet simulator at the Elk's Lodge on July 14. The 12 year old was one of many local residents who gathered at the lodge for their first look at the next-generation fighter program with many opting to take a spin in the Joint Strike Fighter cockpit simulator. McGehee serves with Lockheed Martin's office in Fort Worth, Texas. Photo by Brian S. Orban

The Russian-built fighter never stood a chance.

Kylee Brooks already had the jet locked into the crosshairs of her own fighter, which at 15 miles continued to rapidly approach the target.

Still safely out of sight from her quarry, she squeezed the small, red button that dropped a missile stored inside the internal weapons bay. Brooks tried to track the missile's trajectory with her eyes until it vanished from sight, prompting her to watch the action from a video display monitor inside the cockpit.

Changes are good the enemy pilot never saw what hit his jet, let alone where the shot came from.

For the Mountain Home Junior High School student, the air combat scenario was the first time she had ever climbed into the cockpit of a jet fighter. For others that huddled around to catch the action, it was their first up-close look at the Air Force's newest combat aircraft, the F-35 Lightning II.

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