From test jet to showpiece: The first F-35B ever built will become a museum piece at Beaufort
September 7, 2025
Dangling beneath the enormous rotors of a Sikorsky CH-53K King Stallion, a piece of aviation history floated slowly into Beaufort, South Carolina.
Crowds of Marines craned their necks as the black-and-grey shape came into view: BF-01, the very first F-35B Lightning II ever built.
For years, it carved its name into history with test flights and world-first manoeuvres. Now, in a dramatic aerial delivery, it arrived not to roar down a runway but to take up permanent residence as a static display at Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort.
This was no ordinary homecoming. The journey itself was a mission, a rare aerial transport that doubled as a training opportunity and underlined the aircraft’s symbolic weight.
BF-01, once the cutting edge of American engineering, is now a monument to the Marines who flew it, maintained it, and learned from it.
BF-01: The first F-35 of its kind
“BF-01 was the first of its kind ever built,” explained Major Joseph Leitner, Communications Director with the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing. “That tells a great story about its importance to the Marine Corps and to the F-35B community.”
The jet’s legacy is formidable. On 11 June 2008, BF-01 made its first flight. Less than two years later, on 18 March 2010, it performed the first vertical landing of any F-35, guided by pilot Graham Tomlinson at NAS Patuxent River.
It went on to achieve the first vertical take-off, the first short take-off and vertical landing (STOVL), and multiple deployments at sea, including operations aboard USS America in 2016.
When the aircraft finally retired in April 2022, its place in the history books was already assured.
Moving the F-35B with a King Stallion helicopter
Static displays are usually straightforward: a retired aircraft is rolled across the tarmac to its final resting place.
BF-01’s journey was anything but. Hauled hundreds of miles by a Sikorsky CH-53K King Stallion helicopter from NAS Patuxent River, its move to Beaufort required meticulous planning.
“I have never heard of anybody moving it via helicopter,” said Lieutenant Colonel Jarrod Allen, executive officer of Marine Aircraft Group 31. “It’s something that could have been a simple movement, but we chose to do it in a way that flexes muscles we don’t always use, such as mission planning, coordination, and risk management.”
Multiple Marine units combined to pull it off: heavy-lift squadrons, refuelling teams, logisticians and Beaufort’s own ground crews. For them, the task was less about parking a jet and more about testing their ability to choreograph a complex aerial ballet.
The F-35B: A symbol of a new era
For today’s Marine aviators, BF-01 is more than a relic. It is a marker of a turning point.
“Our entire capability in the future of Marine aviation is all going F-35B and F-35Cs,” Allen said. “Here in the next five years, we are going to be an all 5th-generation fighter force.”
Seeing Triple: This rare pic captures the 3 flagship test fleet #F35's, AF-1, BF-1 & CF-1. http://t.co/e0XDJQj2hE pic.twitter.com/ywwL8Ht42K
— F-35 Lightning II (@thef35) May 14, 2015
Beaufort itself is at the heart of that transformation. In recent years, multiple squadrons have transitioned from F/A-18 Hornets to the stealthier, more capable F-35B. The base is now a vital training pipeline, preparing pilots for an all-F-35 future.
“We’re rapidly becoming an F-35 only MAG,” said Lieutenant Colonel Whitesel, commanding officer of Marine Fighter Attack Training Squadron 501. “So it’s nice to have a public display of what we fly here.”
What made BF-01 so special?
The F-35B is the only 5th-generation fighter in the world with STOVL capability. It can lift off from short runways or ship decks, hover like a helicopter, and then accelerate to Mach 1.6 with a full internal weapons load.
Its stealth design reduces radar visibility, while advanced sensors feed pilots a complete picture of the battlefield through a helmet-mounted display. It is a true multi-mission platform, equally at home in air-to-air combat, close support for troops, intelligence gathering, or electronic warfare.
Pilots describe it as a force multiplier: one jet linking seamlessly with ships, ground units and other aircraft to extend awareness and strike power.
The B-variant has already proven itself in combat with the US Marine Corps, the UK Royal Navy and the Italian Air Force.
A living reminder of the importance of the F-35B
At Beaufort, BF-01 is now a silent sentinel — a fighter that once led the charge into the 5th generation and now stands as a reminder of what it took to get there.
For the Marines of MAG-31, the aircraft embodies pride and sacrifice. For the community around the base, it is a public display of the Corps’ future.
“It’s important to have something here that reflects what we fly today,” Allen said.
Though BF-01 will never rise vertically from the tarmac again, its final journey has ensured that generations of Marines and visitors will look up at its distinctive lines and remember the moment Marine aviation stepped into a new era.
