Re Harrier losses, I believe it has been commented that the early Harrier 1 accident rate - particularly in the case of the U.S.Marines - was due to pilots being trained on helicopters ' because the thing hovers, doesn't it ?!' rather than fast jets, which might have proved handy.
This is just an observation from a non-pilot, but it's interesting the Harrier and Jaguar ( and to an extent the Tornado ) were originally prototypes or 'design hangovers' for grander things, ie the P1154 and TSR2, both of which seem in hindsight to have stood excellent chances of being lemons !
It could be said the Harrier worked out rather better than the 'exercise in drag, on losing one Adour the other will get you to the scene of the accident', rarely exported, Jag'...
As for earlier designs working out well compared to more ambitious creations, I get the strong feeling there would have been a Harrier 2++, if people had known how the F-35B development was going to go !
Last edited by Double Zero; 29th Mar 2011 at 11:26.