Classic British Flight Sim

Something just doesn't look right about it. The entire vertical/STOL mechanics look too complicated. I wasn't struck on the nose gear flex either Have we sent those Harriers over yet?


ATB
DaveB

Also, not mentioned is that the UK's order for F-35B's is already in production. So there was cost involved with either reselling or converting the airframes already under construction to the "C" model, offsetting much of the savings that would have been had for those airframes. In fact, the first F-35B for the UK flew late last month - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNYD-F8SXfc

Ahh.. I didn't know they were already in production. That would certainly carry a premium

ATB
DaveB

Chris Trott wrote:Also, not mentioned is that the UK's order for F-35B's is already in production. So there was cost involved with either reselling or converting the airframes already under construction to the "C" model, offsetting much of the savings that would have been had for those airframes. In fact, the first F-35B for the UK flew late last month - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNYD-F8SXfc

Not so much, the UK has ordered exactly 3 F-35s for trials, originally all Bs, the third was nominally swapped for a C example from the USN's allocation. Beyond that the MoD haven't even committed to a firm number to buy, so probably just one for each carrier and one for the FAA Museum...

At least now there is a chance we might end up using both carriers rather than mothballing one.

I know, hoping for too much. I'll go get my coat.

It's a horribly crude looking device, compared with the sheer elegance of the Harrier , and it appears to lack the vectored thrust in flight capability which proved ( unexpectedly) to be the unique factor which made the Harrier unbeatable as a subsonic combat aircraft

and it appears to lack the vectored thrust in flight capability which proved ( unexpectedly) to be the unique factor which made the Harrier unbeatable as a subsonic combat aircraft

That is something of a myth, viffing has never been used operationally by the Harrier. Slowing down suddenly in combat is all very Top Gun but it does then leave you something of a sitting target.
The myriad doors on the F-35 do look a bit Heath Robinson but that's the price you pay for making a supersonic stealth V/STOL aircraft, two things the Harrier never was.

Hey Guys?

the days of sleek shapely figures we love are over. It's not enough to out fly or out gun the other guy.

Be it manned or unmanned. Unseen and Unheard is the wave of the future
..... not even the intended target gets to hear the boom if all goes according to plan.

At least we still get to fly the beauties in the sim.

SkippyBing wrote:That is something of a myth, viffing has never been used operationally by the Harrier. Slowing down suddenly in combat is all very Top Gun but it does then leave you something of a sitting target.
The myriad doors on the F-35 do look a bit Heath Robinson but that's the price you pay for making a supersonic stealth V/STOL aircraft, two things the Harrier never was.

I thought viffing wasn't about suddenly slowing down, but assisting in manoeuvring rapidly to get out of an enemy gun sight. For example, suddenly pointing the nozzles downwards during fast forward flight to make the Harrier move along an axis that couldn't be followed by a conventional jet. I suppose that will result in some loss of forward speed, certainly, but wasn't it done momentarily till the desired results were achieved ?

Well, one of my colleagues who flew the Harrier certainly thought that it was the crucial feature which made it so effective . He was RAF rather than RN , and previously had been on Jaguars ( and later on the F15 on an exchange) and thus had a basis for comparison