Thread drift I know but... what ARE the controls in a Harrier? I've often wondered. Do they some how magically arrange things so the normal controls (stick/pedals/throttle) are actually working the thrusters to make all the right things happen? Or what?
n5296s
Somewhat. There's an additional lever on the control quadrant that tilts the nozzles from 0 degrees (go forward like an airplane) to 98 degrees (make the bad guy overshoot in a dogfight for the purposes of vaporization). 90 degrees is used for hovering. Other angles are used for V/STOL at various runway lengths. So, that's the push the airplane up in the air part sorted.
There are also attitude control nozzles in the nose, tail, and wing tips. Those use bleed air (I believe) and are controlled by the stick and pedals... so that's the magic part. It's all here, really...
How the Harrier hovers
Friend of mine is a USMC Harrier pilot and was the commanding officer of a primary (non-Harrier) fixed-wing training squadron a few years back. I worked across the field instructing in helicopters. Took him on his first flight in a helicopter as part of his professional development (and because it's fun)... he did quite well hovering, vertical take offs and landings, though he was working very hard at it. He wanted me very close to the controls, but he did fine and I don't remember having to take them from him at all. I did have to tell him that it wasn't quite like the Harrier in that you don't cut the power from about 10' up and bang down like you do with the Harrier, to save both our spines and keep the skids down below the fuselage where we like them, though I'd seen enough Harrier landings to not get caught out by that.
Since I'd already done a few hundred hours in a T-34 (what his then squadron flew), I wanted something with a little more oomph... and anyway, I figured that flying a Harrier couldn't be very difficult, so I asked him if he could get one of his old mates to bring one the 600 or so miles from the nearest squadron so I could get a free flight... because you see there were another 15 fellows with whom I was competing for bragging rights as ace of the base...
In the end, he bought me lunch at the club and exaggerated effusively to anyone who would listen about what a terrific experience it was and how "those helicopter guys have so much fun it's almost indecent..." I chewed my sandwich thoughtfully, smiled a lot, basked in the attention and of course silently agreed... it's good when you get to show your friends what you do... and they think, rightly or wrongly, that you're rather good at it.
