Old Dog
Quite easily actually, because the aircraft had a very good reaction control system!
Give pilots good controls and they can cope with very little stability, or even in the case of the Harrier some instability in the circuit below wingborne speeds. You can’t expect to take your hands off the stick and have it stay steady, but hey, its not the cruise it’s the circuit.
The Wright brothers understood this. Their design deliberately gave priority to control rather than stability.
My definition of good controls is they should have light forces that build up steadily with deflection, be fairly sensitive (so you don’t have to move your hand far to get the response you are looking for) and of course have no rubbish like backlash or sticktion. It is also necessary that they offer a fairly linear response (move your hand twice as far and you get twice the effect not say three times or one and a half times)
In my view all the aviation text books on the Stability and Control of aircraft have got their priority wrong they should be about Control and Stability – first things first! Stability is nice to have once control is sorted but a stable aircraft that you can’t control is no use to woman, man or beast.
Regards
JF