Hawker Siddeley Kestrel FGA.1( The Harrier )

shush

Kestrel development began in 1957, taking advantage of the Bristol Engine Company's Pegasus vectored-thrust engine.

Testing began in July 1960 and by the end of the year the aircraft had achieved both vertical take-off and horizontal flight.

57 years and it still does the deed.

Pilot lands faulty fighter jet on a stool at sea;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bQSZR4y7ow

Very nice flying also. :up:

jaywapti

Thanks .

JAY

tennmike

Those are pretty neat jets. Not the fastest, not the most maneuverable, but they sure do some slick flying with a good pilot on the stick!

shush

tennmike wrote: »

Those are pretty neat jets. Not the fastest, not the most maneuverable, but they sure do some slick flying with a good pilot on the stick!

They did the business in the South Atlantic .

9 IAI Daggers (Mirage V equivalent)
7 A-4 Skyhawks (plus one write-off on landing)
1 Mirage III
...and 3 other aircraft

No Sea Harriers were lost in air-to-air combat.

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/report/1984/DWF.htm

Scroll down to "A Harrier War"

BAMAAK

I worked on the AV-8B program, as well as several others, for about 10 years as a Navy contractor. Went to the assembly line for it and the F/A-18 in St Louis once. That plane has more plastic in it, as a percentage, than a Glock. The B model was a good plane, the A not so much, especially for the US. The marines tended to crash them a lot. The Brits flew them much better.

Most people don't know this but I the nose, tail and wingtips, there are stabilizing ports of exhaust gas called puffers. I'm surprised that didn't throw him off so when he got near that stool. I think they are further aft though, especially on the ones they equipped with radar like that one.

shush

Sea Harrier in the Falklands War.

Decks were a bit crowded, if we could not take it, we did not have it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yf-t3gFA9JI

Damage at 2.52min was from ground fire.

BAMAAK wrote: »

I worked on the AV-8B program, as well as several others, for about 10 years as a Navy contractor.

Is it true that the USMC AV-8A and 8 TAV-8A Harriers were purchased from Hawker Siddeley around about the early '70's?

BAMAAK

Yea the Brits made the A model. I know the USMC had them in the late 70's cause I went TDY to Cherry Point and they had them. The B models were made by McDonnel Douglas in concert with the Brits. They still used Rolls Royce engines and some smaller euro parts like the fuel system (French) but it was mostly American. The original B models were pretty basic but they started adding features like Radar and FLIR as they got into the build. They can't take off vertically fully loaded with bombs/fuel and water so they often refuel right away or take off with a rolling start and then they can save the water for vertical landing.

Farm Boy Deuce

They are neat planes. The pilot in the first clip is pretty damn impressive.

Changing subjects. The second clip had a short section filmed from inside the island. I remember the first time I was sent up to the O6 level to work on the windshield wipers. It completely boggled me that a ship would have windshield wipers. Made perfect sense once I thought about. Fun stuff.

NN

When we first got the Harrier, only prima donnas could fly them.

Then the last straw happened, the fighter squadron I flew with in that Asian war was re-fitted with AV-8's.

shush

NN wrote: »

When we first got the Harrier, only prima donnas could fly them.

Then the last straw happened, the fighter squadron I flew with in that Asian war was re-fitted with AV-8's.

OK. :uhm:

DanChamberlain

The Marine corps crashed the first 25 Harriers they got. After that, it appears the learned to fly them.

NN

Still do crash one now and again, nothing is Marine proof.