On-board Harrier Footage

[fatboy b]

I'll probably get told to use the youtube thread, but here you go....


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2Lg-x1tAyE&sns...

[CharlieCrocodile]

Take off seemed rather sedate, wonder if it used the catapult or not.

[leafspring]

Probably not, rolling take off with the nozzles makes for excellent STOL capability (it is what they're designed for)

I know that vid is of an American aircraft, but I don't think our carriers have/had catapults which is why we used Harriers.

[RobGT81]

Harriers don't use catapults.. You would have a job hooking it up to the nose leg even if you wanted to.

Edited by RobGT81 on Monday 18th November 11:51

[Eric Mc]

It's the USS Kearsarge, which is a US Marine Corps assault carrier - not a full US Navy fleet carrier.

The Royal Navy Invincible class carriers were not equipped with catapults and arrestor gear. They were designed from the outset for helicopters and VTOL aircraft.

Earlier Royal Navy carriers did have steam catapults and arrestor gear.

[CrutyRammers]

He didn't look too pleased with his landing.
OT - anyone know how the various nozzle rotations are controlled? I couldn't see anything obvious but I guess it's something on the throttles?

[leafspring]

IIRC the nozzle control lever is next to the throttle

[RobGT81]

Yup just inboard of the throttle lever. Whatever you do, don't accidentally move the nozzle lever when you want to move the throttle.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jThMA3Qy-TQ

http://www.ukserials.com/pdflosses/maas_20020802_z...

[leafspring]

RobGT81 said:

Yup just inboard of the throttle lever. Whatever you do, don't accidentally move the nozzle lever when you want to move the throttle.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jThMA3Qy-TQ

http://www.ukserials.com/pdflosses/maas_20020802_z...

thanks for including the incident report... very interesting.

[Krikkit]

What happens to the pilots in incidents where pilot error is the cause? Other than being the subject of many jokes, do they get shipped out from the unit etc?

[Eric Mc]

Depends on the circumstances.

Often the superiors will be quite sympathetic - since they may have made equally silly mistakes in their own flying careers and it was just a matter of luck whether they got away with it or not.

[Munter]

leafspring said:

thanks for including the incident report... very interesting.

The report said: "The Pilot had suffered a cognitive failure"

Very polite.

[Eric Mc]

"Brain fade" to you and me.

[CrutyRammers]

leafspring said:

RobGT81 said:

Yup just inboard of the throttle lever. Whatever you do, don't accidentally move the nozzle lever when you want to move the throttle.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jThMA3Qy-TQ

http://www.ukserials.com/pdflosses/maas_20020802_z...

thanks for including the incident report... very interesting.

Ooops! At least he got out ok. I imagine he'll never live that down.

[98elise]

CharlieCrocodile said:

Take off seemed rather sedate, wonder if it used the catapult or not.

As said above harriers normaly do a rolling take off. That actually seemed rapid for a harrier. I've seen them drop after a ramp take off on UK carriers.

Nice footage in the clip. For those that don't know the zig zag bead in the canopy is an exposive, used to create an instant sunroof should you need to eject

[eharding]

Interesting hearing the varying engine noise - and that the pilot appears to be wearing the same CEP (http://www.cep-usa.com/cep/military-aviation) secondary hearing protection I've been using in those Gentex helmets for a few years - certainly stopped me going deaf in the Pitts, and I fitted a set to an HGU-55 for a mate on Sunday who is rapidly going deaf in his new S1.

The US Gentex helmets are fairly poor at passive noise attenuation, so retrofitting kit like the CEP is a remarkably cheap solution - I knew the company sells most of their products to the US military, but never seen video of them actually being used.

[NDA]

fatboy b said:

I'll probably get told to use the youtube thread, but here you go....


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2Lg-x1tAyE&sns...

Glad it wasn't moved, or I would have missed it.

Amazing.

There are a few things I could never do (lack of balls and lack of skill) and that is one of them.