" we might as well have the pprune cynics have a go at designing "( JSF Carrier type ) .
Please, Jetex Jim, can I have a go ?!
P1216; Offered in several versions, inc twin tailboom & F-35 style aft nozzle, + shutters instead of draggy forward nozzles; forward swept wings & possibly internal weapon carriage were also suggested, and 'do-able' - bugger stealth, increasingly stealthy & intelligent cruise missiles can do '1st day' then one would turn up with a world class fighter, I would think well able to give the Typhoon a run for it's money - well, you asked...
I have a picture in my office of various P112this and P12that proposals for what at the time was called ASTOVL. I happened to be explaining what they all were to a junior colleague today and, with the benefit of a "few" years association with ASTOVL, aSTOVL, SHR, SSF, CALF, FCBA, JSF, JCA etc (plus a memorable excursion to rummage in Yakovlev's rubbish bins) I felt fairly comfortable in running across the entire set saying "wouldn't have worked, wouldn't have worked, definitely wouldn't have worked, would have looked spectacular trying to work but wouldn't have worked" etc, notwithstanding the heroic efforts of people better than me to try to get them to work if they'd been asked.
Of course sometimes one does just has to press-on and try something, because despite what people say, it might work. Which is why whilst some people are happy to just write about SRVLs , others have actually been out there and had a go. So it's just possible that the people with direct knowledge of SRVLs, whilst never short of "Sorry tales of STOVL aviation" to remind them not to get carried away, have a better idea of the issues around SRVLs than those who have to rely on guesswork and rumour networks. Fun though that might be.
