The first two production model F-35B Lightning II short takeoff/vertical landing aircraft were delivered to Marine Fighter/Attack Training Squadron 501 (VMFAT-501), the US Marine Corps training squadron collocated with the Air Force’s 33rd Fighter Wing at Eglin AFB, Florida, on 11 January 2012. The aircraft, Navy Bureau Numbers 168057 and 168059, were flown separately from the Lockheed Martin facility in Fort Worth, Texas, to the Florida panhandle by US Marine Corps Maj. Joseph Bachmann and Lt. Col. Matt Taylor. Both aircraft will be used for pilot and maintainer training at the new F-35 Integrated Training Center at Eglin. These two aircraft the seventh and eighth F-35 aircraft delivered to Eglin since July 2011.
