Former head test pilot and naval aviator Tom Morgenfeld flew the X-35A during its inaugural flight on Oct. 24, 2000...and didn’t look back. It set the course for the F-35 Lightning II to dominate the skies 22 years later.  

The next feature in the F-35 Joint Program Office’s Blast From the Past series discusses the successful sortie of the concept demonstrator aircraft, the X-35A. The cultivation of information during the flight tests of the X-35A paved the way for the success of the X-35B and, eventually, the X-35C. Read more about the flight with the pilot in the cockpit, Tom Morgenfeld.  

DVIDS - News - X-35A Test Pilot Remembers Flight That Set Air Superiority Standard for Joint Strike Fighter Program (dvidshub.net)