Nerdy aside: the F-35 is not really VTOL, it's STOVL (short-takeoff/vertical landing).
Vertical takeoffs have been done in testing, but the jet really isn't going to be operated that way. Short takeoffs will be done regularly, though. It's amazing to see an aircraft go from a dead stop to being 50 feet in the air within less than 800 feet of runway.
Don't discount the looks department. In the fighter world, the adage has always been, "If it looks right, it flies right." Now, I'm not saying that is the criterion that should be used to select airplanes, but that mindset exists.
Boeing still would have been faced with many of these same avionics and software issues because their aircraft would have been outfitted with similar systems.
Vertical takeoffs have been done in testing, but the jet really isn't going to be operated that way. Short takeoffs will be done regularly, though. It's amazing to see an aircraft go from a dead stop to being 50 feet in the air within less than 800 feet of runway.
Don't discount the looks department. In the fighter world, the adage has always been, "If it looks right, it flies right." Now, I'm not saying that is the criterion that should be used to select airplanes, but that mindset exists.
Boeing still would have been faced with many of these same avionics and software issues because their aircraft would have been outfitted with similar systems.