BAe/McDonnell Douglas Harrier

Te concept of vertical take off and landing —VTOL — had appealed to designers from the very earliest days of flying. The helicopter had gone some way to realizing this dream but designers still wanted an aeroplane that could perform as a conventional fighter and still be able to hover. Some designers tried to solve the problem of the vertical flight aspect by adding lift engines to the fuselage, but these were heavy and made the transition to forward flight difficult. The solution came with the innovative Pegasus powerplant, developed by Bristol Siddeley and later Rolls Royce. The engine was not only powerful enough for conventional flight but incorporated a unique concept: vectored thrust, the ability to swivel its jet efflux through 90 degrees.
The P1127 was a private venture by Hawker Siddeley, built to prove the concept of VSTOL, marrying the Pegasus engine to a new airframe, the concept being further developed with the Kestrel, which later became the Harrier.
Despite early fears of a lack of operational capability, successive engine and airframe developments have kept the Harrier in the front line of operations and it was to prove itself during the Falklands campaign of 1982, the Gulf War and over Bosnia.
Andy Evans tells the full story of the development of this amazing aeroplane and of its use by the United States Marine Corps and the Navies of India, Spain, Italy and Thailand as well as by the RAF and Royal Navy. With over 200 photographs, many of which are previously unpublished, BAe/McDonnell Douglas Harrier is a comprehensive and authoritative work.


by Andy Evans
Published by Crowood 1998 1st edition. 191pp profusely illustrated, index, appendices. 23x29 mint, including d/j.





Note:
"Long" descriptions, where shown, may have been taken from the book's dust jacket notes, and as such are relevant to the date of publication (e.g. any references to "previously unpublished photographs" etc.) and not the present.

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