CRASH: Harrier down (video included)

Hope I can say this without an eruption but, "interesting film"

I was particularly fascinated by the way the ejection and parachute sequence
resulted in the pilot hitting the downed aircraft, despite the apparent
wind. Assuming the Harrier ejects straight up (I have no idea) it appears
that a lesson I learned from model rocketry seemed to apply, i.e. an
unguided rocket will track upwind while underpower and drift downwind when
not underpower. So much so that a typical model rocket should be aimed
somewhat downwind if the recovery is intended to take place near the launch.
Kind of counterintuitive.

It appears that upon ejection, the seat/pilot assembly quickly turns and
tracks upwind. Then when the chute deploys it drifts right back into the
aircraft which essentially went straight down. Damn!

A more obvious situation but unexpected situation involved a glider middair
around 4,000agl where the pilot ejected and the damaged glider descended in
a sort of falling leaf mode. Once the jump experienced pilot landed, his
main liability was in being hit by the descending glider which landed within
a 100 feet. From 4,000 feet, it's just not obvious that a damaged glider
and a pilot on a chute are likely to land in the same place.

....back to work.
"Iwan Bogels" wrote in message
...
Harriers have the unique capabilitiy of hovering with a jet aircraft. In
fact they can do this by balancing the aircraft on four columns of exhaust
gasses. Obviously this 'trick' is highly appreciated at airshows. But one
day the demonstration pilot mistook the throttle for the exhaust lever and
dropped like a brick. As this mishap occured during an airshow, we can
offer
you a details video of the crash: http://www.dappa.nl/crash.htm

The pilot ejected safely, but as he landed on top of the crashed aircraft
he
broke his ankle. Nevertheless he is up and running again these days, so no
permanent damage done (except for a dented ego).

Iwan
DAPPA

"Ian" wrote in message
...

"Peter Duniho" wrote in message
...
"Frijoles" wrote in message
ink.net...
I'm amazed that the Harrier has been around for over thrity years and
there's still so little understanding of how it works...

Seems to me that there's pretty good understanding of how it works, even
without your contribution, thank you very much.

Hot gas re-ingestion is a factor in engine performance in the
Harrier,
but
it won't make one fall out of the sky in a fashion similar to the jet
in
the
video.

What part of "I haven't seen the video" did you have a hard time
comprehending? You'll have to define "fall out of the sky", but I have
seen
video of exhaust re-ingestion that DID make a Harrier crash into the
ground.

Nothing in your post in any way contradicted mine. I still think it's
unlikely the pilot confused the nozzle control with the throttle.
Nothing
short of a statement from the pilot himself would convince me otherwise.
The controls simply aren't similar.

Not sure if its the same video, but the Harrier that went for a swim
during
a seaside display last year was caused by the pilot reaching for the wrong
lever....(Don't have a link to the accident report, but its out there
somewhere)

try this for starter:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/suffolk/3330045.stm

Tried it, but it wouldn't load on my computer. The window came up,
the first two frames displayed, but it would not run.

Roger Halstead (K8RI & ARRL life member)
(N833R, S# CD-2 Worlds oldest Debonair)
www.rogerhalstead.com

"Roger" wrote in message
...
Tried it, but it wouldn't load on my computer. The window came up,
the first two frames displayed, but it would not run.

Roger Halstead (K8RI & ARRL life member)
(N833R, S# CD-2 Worlds oldest Debonair)
www.rogerhalstead.com

for those who the link doesn't work:

Pilot error caused the crash of a £15m Harrier jet at a Suffolk air show
last year, an official inquiry has revealed.
Crowds on the seafront at Lowestoft watched as the RAF plane which had been
hovering above the waves off-shore suddenly seemed to lose power and plunged
60 feet into the water.

The pilot Flight Lieutenant Tony Cann ejected to safety and suffered a
broken ankle. The plane was later recovered from the sea bed.

Changes in pilot training have been recommended after it was discovered that
a cockpit mistake by the flier was responsible for the crash.

An RAF board of inquiry has now established that Flight Lieutenant Cann had
accidentally operated the controls for throttle and nozzle direction lever
at the same time causing it to drop like a stone.

Flight Lieutenant Cann, who is now flying again and based at RAF Cottismore,
is said to have received advice following the loss of the plane in August
2003.