RAF Harrier Crash
 

Amazing video ... anyone have any information?

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Right about the moment I was thinking I would have already ejected, he pulled the handle.

Wow, think I would've pulled the handle way before he did. Looks like he could've stayed with it.

I don't know what was wrong with airplane but maybe he should of punched at altitude. But it did look like he could have climbed out and walked away at the end. The flames must have spooked him.

If he wasn't expecting that hard landing, he must have been pretty rattled.

I though the Harrier could only land vertically. Maybe the nozzles would not rotate down so the pilot had to try to land it like a normal plane.

Are there any Harrier drivers on APC?

I have a friend who still carries burn scars on his arms from a dance with a Harrier. He never remembers pulling the handle, it happened quickly and he may have reacted without having time to think. Just in time and he doesn't know how.

Few months back we had some Marines out here at Mountain Home and they were landing their Harriers like conventional planes. Would have liked to have seen them do a few vertical landings tho.

Harrier Ops
 

They can and do takeoff and land conventionally.

Range and payload are drastically reduced if taking off vertically (can't take a full load).

If landing vertically, you are subject to the same risks as a helicopter: if the engine quits, it doesn't glide very well.

The whole idea of VTOL was that the capability existed if forced into it (runway cut by bombs, or Marines on a short beachhead). But to my knowledge, it's not the preferred route.

They can do a mix, too (part forward-flight lift, part VFing (Vertical Flight Nozzle).

UAL -

I think the term you might have been thinking of was VIFFing (Vectoring In Forward Flight)

I know there are a few Harriers pilots on APC. I'm sure they chimed in here and square all of us non-STOL/VTOL pilots straight :D
I have seen the lightly loaded VTOL from the back of the ship before and it is quite the initial climb angle. :eek:

USMCFLYR

VTOL Dictionary
 

USMC:

Yeah, I knew how to say it, not spell it...and I'm still on the run from Majestic 7.

Gotta go...they're here again.....!!

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