PrOOne - thank you - I was losing the will to live on this one. And I am now really glad that I didn't get sent to CFS.
Mog - nice to see a sensible post from you yesterday!! Pheromones!! New word for me!! When we shared a cabin on (OK, in) HERMES, I had no idea that you were excreting pheromones. I thought it was methane related, but you are never too old to learn!!
RVL's - In the GR5/7/9 era, an RVL did make a serious comeback weight increase. With the 67 deg barn door flaps, even 50 knots forward speed made some serious lift on the wing - plus the proximity of the flap to the rear nozzles generated some real induced lift - Bucc guys will understand the benefits of this - but the Fowler flaps with the induced airflow worked really well. I seem to remember about a 4000lb increase above hover weight.
No doubt the QFI's who have taken this thread over will have an opinion - or several!! And will also argue about the benefits or otherwise of Fowler flaps, with or without blown air!!
I have absolutely no idea if the F-35 benefits the same way as the Harrier 5/7/9/AV8B did.
As to all the other stuff in recent posts about vertical/horizontal and other forces - I used to think that I could fly aeroplanes - I still think that I can - but all this has now made me doubt it all, so maybe I should give up recreational flying and worry more about avoiding Coronavirus!