Name: What it takes to be an F-35 fighter jet test pilot
Uploaded: 2025-10-26T22:28:53.903Z
Duration: 4 min 20 s
Description: Andrew Soundy’s job is high speed, calculated risk and pushing the limits of one of the most sophisticated aircrafts ever produced, telling CBC’s David Common it’s like ‘Christmas every day’ he gets behind the controls of an F-35 fighter jet.

Andrew Soundy’s job is high speed, calculated risk and pushing the limits of one of the most sophisticated aircrafts ever produced, telling CBC’s David Common it’s like ‘Christmas every day’ he gets behind the controls of an F-35 fighter jet.

Andrew Soundy, a Canadian-born test pilot, plays a key role in evaluating the F-35 fighter jet, one of the most advanced aircraft in the world. His responsibilities include testing the jet’s systems and performance to ensure they meet operational standards before deployment. Soundy’s career began in the Canadian Forces, and he now works for Lockheed Martin in the United States, where he is recognized as one of the continent’s most experienced test pilots.

The F-35 features advanced technology, such as a custom helmet with integrated night vision and a sophisticated head-up display. Soundy has contributed to cold weather testing, confirming the jet’s suitability for operations in harsh environments like Canada’s Arctic. He emphasizes the importance of interoperability among allied nations using the F-35 and describes the experience of flying the jet as both physically demanding and highly rewarding.

What it takes to be an F-35 fighter jet test pilot

This is the F-35 G-suit, the skeletal G-suit, life preserver. It's one of the suits Andrew Soundy wears in his role as fighter jet test pilot. A physically demanding profession, especially at high speed. Nine G's essentially means my body weighs nine times what it does standing here right now. The F-35 fighter jet can travel more than one and a half times faster than sound. And Soundy is believed to hold a speed record in the F-35. What's it like up in the air in one of these? It's like Christmas for me every day. I get to go fly. So not only the way the airplane handles, it's a dream to fly, but also the magic that goes inside of it as well. It's just a dream. We met the pilot, callsign Bundy, in Texas where Lockheed Martin builds the F-35. He's now based at California's Edwards Air Force Base, but learned to fly back home in Canada. And what's a Canadian doing down here in the U.S. doing that? Served my entire military career in the Canadian forces. Met my wife when I was on exchange down here at Edwards as a Canadian flying the F-16. We got married and life brought me down to the States and hired by Lockheed. What's a test pilot do in general? So taking an airplane from its initial inception and testing everything to make sure it works correctly before it goes to the field. Think of any piece of software, any piece of hardware, there's going to be bugs when things start. It's our job to sort those things out. It's Bundy's job now to put new F-35s through their paces. He's among a rare club of the most experienced test pilots on the continent. He's been doing it a long time. When did you get your wings? 1991, Moose Shore, Saskatchewan. Very proud to wear those. The only wings I have and the only wings I will have. Actually for basic glider pilot training flew the F-5. It was that long ago. Indeed, an engineering graduate of the Royal Military College, he flew the F-5, which was itself replaced by the CF-18, the aircraft now set to be replaced by the F-35 in Canada's Air Force. What's this? So the F-35 helmet, a custom made for each pilot. There's a night vision camera integrated into there. The closest thing I can liken it to for anyone out there is if you look at the Iron Man movies with the head-up display that was in, that's essentially what you're getting with this helmet. Bundy did much of the cold weather development and testing for the F-35 in the far north. So he's confident it passes the necessary test for Canada to be able to patrol its Arctic region. It carries a lot of fuel, more than any fighter I've ever flown. I don't have any concerns myself on anything I've ever done with having the range that I need to conduct the mission. So you've flown the CF-18. I have. What's the argument for Canada having the F-35? That's not my area of expertise. That's for the politicians. What I can tell you is from an operator's perspective, all the good things that go into this aircraft. So early on in my years flying the F-18, we deployed to Goose Bay a lot, and a lot of the Allied nations would be out there training as well. So the Royal Air Force was there in their Tornadoes, the Dutch Air Force in their F-16s, and the Germans in their F-4s, and we'd be out there with our F-18s, all working together, albeit in different aircraft. You look at this now, and the Dutch are flying the F-35. The Germans are a customer, and of course the Royal Air Force is as well. For Canada to be there and to be able to be connected with that same aircraft in that environment, I think you can't understate that. Being in an F-35 is like putting an F-35 on rather than climbing into it. You're completely attached to the aircraft, right, through the helmet. A lifetime of high speed and calculated risk from one of the top test pilots flying among the most sophisticated aircraft ever produced. David Common, CBC News, Fort Worth, Texas.

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