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The British Aerospace Sea Harrier FRS.1
For X-Plane v6.7
The Sea Harrier is a progression of the Harrier, first developed for use by the RAF as a deployable multi purpose aircraft. Able to takeoff vertically or more usually in a very short distance, aswell as land in the same distance the Harrier is
eminently suitable for short, rough field use. The ability of the Harrier to do this was one of the main factors in the Royal Navy's choice for a new aircraft to suit the new 'pocket carriers' that were replacing the older 'through deck' aircraft carriers.
The Sea Harrier first flew on the 20 August 1978, the hand over of the first RN Sea Harrier FRS.1 was on the 18 June 1979.
Powered by a Rolls Royce Pegasus engine the Sea Harrier overcame many political difficulties and fewer technical issues. As Commander RN 'sharkey' Ward's mount during Operation Corporate the aircraft acquitted itself excellently. The aircraft of 801 NAS faired better than HMS Hermes' aircraft as the squadron aboard Hermes did not have a great deal of faith in their aircraft and thus the ability of the aircraft and its systems was not fully
recognized (the squadron in question ignored nearly all of the advice passed on by 801).
I suggest Commander Ward's book 'Sea Harrier Over the Falklands' An excellent book.
So, how well can x-plane simulate the Sea Harrier?
Some compromises and logical thought are needed to produce an accurate representation of the aircraft in question. This is because x-plane is still limited in some areas. One area being the fact that we cannot have differential thrust values for engines. This is found on the Sea Harrier where output values between front and rear nozzles are different. to
accommodate the fact that the engine has four output nozzles it has been necessary to model the harrier with four engines. Not only has this given the model better visual characteristics it has also improved the flight model over a harrier using one engine.
Extensive use of weapons files has been necessary to complete an accurate rendition of the harrier graphically. The panel is drawn from a photo of the real aircraft. It is drawn in the way it is so that all instruments are clearly readable.
Flying the Harrier.
Perhaps the most important factor to remember is that the Harrier has two 'modes' of flight, jet borne and wing borne. these can be mixed in the lower speed region to maintain flight when the wing is not capable of producing all of the lift required to support the aircraft in straight and level flight.
The takeoff:
A vertical takeoff.
Your aircraft will not takeoff vertically if it weighs more than the thrust available.
For a vertical takeoff the nozzle lever has to be lined up with the red line on the panel so that the nozzles are parallel to the ground, and the resulting lift vector is perpendicular to the runway surface.
Aircraft weight will need to be taken into consideration here and just slightly more thrust than aircraft weight will see the aircraft off of the ground. The control jets on the aircraft are sensitive so, in the jet borne regime, only small control inputs are required. The aircraft will move backwards at a slow speed, however you will loose control at anything faster than a fast taxi. Too high an AoA will flip the aircraft over on its back and you will probably
crash (as with the real thing!). There is a region fo the nozzles to move forwards so that rapid deceleration against jet power and backwards jet borne flight is possible. Watch for sudden pitch movements and do not use full 'reverse' nozzle at speeds lower than 120 knots.
A STOL Takeoff.
The harrier will takeoff in a very short distance with the nozzles set to 45 degrees and three stages of flap. Here, care must be taken to keep in a straight line and to keep all wheels on the ground until the aircraft bodily lifts off the ground, as the aircraft will be light on its wheels due to the downward thrust vector. You will see the VVI in the HUD move above the horizon when this happens, just before the aircraft rotates. Caution should be used when applying pitch as the nozzle position could allow the aircraft to flip if the pitch angle gets too high. The aircraft will accelerate away, gear can be raised and the nozzles vectored progressively to the full forward position. Full wing borne flight is achieved in the 160-170 knot range.
A 'Normal' Takeoff.
Two stages of flap, full throttle in the full forward flight nozzle setting, release brakes, aircraft will gather speed and at about 120 knots vector nozzles to 45 degrees, aircraft will lift off in the 150-170 knot range.
The Landing:
A vertical Landing.
A gradual reduction in speed using aerodynamic, air brake and thrust vectoring should be made to a safe 'approach' speed. When landing on a carrier remember the speed is relative to the ship, which generally moves at 32-35 knots, so a vertical landing here will be made with an IAS of 30-35 knots. On land the aircraft can be decelerated to 0 knots. The throttle should be closed a little to initiate a controllable descent and the reapplied to the previous setting to maintain that descent rate.
A STOL landing.
A short distance landing can be achieved in the opposite way to the STOL takeoff, in that an approach with full flap and airbrake and 45 degree nozzle setting can be used for a touchdown in the region of 90-120 knots.
A 'normal' landing.
Using full flap and airbrake can achieve a touchdown speed of somewhere in the region of 130-150 knots depending on aircraft weight, in full wingborne flight.
In flight the aircraft is smooth yet very responsive, capable of fast rolls, and full aerobatics.
Comments and Queries to:
phill_scott@hotmail.com
Click HERE
to download the Sea Harrier.