The X-35B makes the first vertical take-off and landing with a shaft-driven lift fan

The X-35B, flown by BAE Systems pilot Simon Hargreaves, took off and landed vertically for the first time, debuting in flight the lift fan driven by a shaft from the engine. The system produced close to 40,000 pounds of lift and vindicated the concept Lockheed Martin had championed against Boeing's direct-lift arrangement. The flight opened the demonstrator's intensive STOVL test phase, its conventional flight requirements having already been met as the X-35A.