If the ship is steaming into wind, you have a forward airspeed. In the Harrier II, where do you get the thrust from that is needed to overcome the drag? Do you nozzle aft a couple of degrees or fly in a slightly lower nose attitude? Whatever you do, if the ship steams downwind you will have to do the opposite (or at least something different)! As JF says, the slight changes in AoA resulting from the required technique could be the cause. Has anyone on your ship any contacts in the Harrier flight test world at St Louis or Patuxent River? I am off to Pax next week and will ask around to try and find some hard data - I am intrigued by the illogical.