One thing I haven't seen mentioned yet - sorry if I missed it ! - is why on earth the SRVL is a 'new' idea, not designed in from the start ?
We all know Harriers like to creep forward on landing ( and certainly a bit more for take-off ! ) for reasons of hot gas re-ingestion & FOD, maybe a little wing lift - you tell me, I'm not a Harrier pilot...
Maybe the F-35B doesn't suffer as badly from hot gas into the intakes as the Harrier, what with the fan rather than close nozzles ( even the aft hot ones ).
Another point raised by a very accomplished VSTOL aircraft researcher is " how does it taxy backwards ?"- using braking Viffing - for landing rather than combat manouvres largely invented by the media - also handy for deck parking, though not easy, as related by Jerry Pook.
My father was crew-chief on a Harrier at the Paris Salon show, and after one attempt at taxying backwards then finding out the reverse castoring effect on the noseleg the hard way, it was quietly decided by all concerned to forget it unless the pilot had someone ahead directing - obviously a different deal on a carrier at war.
However braking / reverse parking thrust would seem handy to me.
As for the weight issue, remember the P1127 could barely lift itself when stripped right down to start with, but the Pegasus ended up with a lot more than twice that thrust !
Last edited by Double Zero; 27th Aug 2008 at 19:17.