Posted on 12/13/2002 7:15:23 AM PST by The_Victor
class=pr>Press Release
| Source: Los Angeles Times |
Marine Corps' "Widow-Maker": Harrier Attack Jet
Friday December 13, 10:00 am ET
Known among some Marine aviators as "The Widow-Maker," the Harrier was originally produced by the British to perform short and vertical takeoffs and landings from remote clearings and glens.
Among the findings reported by Times staff writers Alan C. Miller in Washington, D.C., and Kevin Sack in Atlanta are:
Times reporters and researchers in Houston, London, Los Angeles, San Diego and Washington, D.C., contributed to the report.
The series publication schedule:
The series' first installment, as well as a comprehensive multimedia package, will be available online after 5 p.m. Dec. 14 at www.latimes.com/harrier.
The online multimedia package will feature:
The Los Angeles Times, a Tribune Publishing company, is the largest metropolitan daily newspaper in the country and winner of 27 Pulitzer Prizes. It publishes four daily regional editions covering the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the San Fernando Valley, and Orange and Ventura counties as well as an Inland Valley section and a National Edition.
Los Angeles Times
David Garcia, 213/237-4715
david.garcia@latimes.comWith major funding from the United States.
The Harrier has failed to make a significant and distinctive contribution on the battlefield.
They might want to examine the records from Desert Storm and the Falklands.
including the V-22 Osprey troop transport whose revolutionary technology also has had deadly side effects.
The technology is sound. Mistakes commited by four Osprey pilots has been the major problem.
Photos of the Marine pilots killed in the Harrier
Wonder if they'll point out those who were responsible for their own deaths.
Heck, there were a lot of crashes among the first fixed wing and rotary wing aircraft, too. I'm sure there were quite a few fatilities in the eary days of balloon flight. I guess fatalities are a surprise to bliss ninnies, but I doubt anyone who has ever been connected with aviation is surprised that occasionally people die while trying to work out revolutionary ways to put a human being into the air.
For anybody who flies, imagine transitioning in such a state in a downburst, windshear, hot thermal, etc... I don't know about the rest of the world, but I prefer to fly late at night when all those phenomenon have gone to bed for the night. I would really be curious to see statistics on time of day in those crashes. We have enemies who like to ruin our lives 24/7 and in bad weather too.
Military pilots do not have the luxury of staying in the hangar when conditions are not ideal when a bunch of tanks are rolling toward our infantry. Bad things happen to good people in war and in training to be prepared for war.
Photos of the Marine pilots killed in the Harrier
Wonder if they'll point out those who were responsible for their own deaths.
What bothers me about this is that in defending the aircraft, we belittle the human cost. If the flight system is too complicated to be safe then other options should be looked at. But, if the mission is so critical that it justifies the risk, then so be it.
That is the why I am wondering "what is the LA Times up to." Any Marine Corps aviators that could weigh in on the issue of VTOL?
Navy’s best pilot killed in Harrier training crashBy Edmund Conway
Dec. 6, 2002A pilot considered the most distinguished and experienced in the Royal Navy was killed yesterday when his Harrier crashed during a routine training mission.
Lt Cdr Martin London, who trained more than half the current Sea Harrier pilots, was instructing another Fleet Air Arm pilot when their two-seater T8 Sea Harrier went out of control shortly after take-off at RAF Wittering, in Cambridgeshire.
Both pilots ejected, but Lt Cdr London was fatally injured.
Known as Jack throughout the service, Lt Cdr London, 43, a father of one from Somerset, had flown more than 5,000 hours, and had seen operational service in Iraq, Sierra Leone and Yugoslavia.
In 1998 he was awarded the Queen’s Commendation for Bravery in the Air when he landed his Harrier on board the aircraft carrier Illustrious in the Gulf of Aden after the canopy had blown off at high altitude. “Rather than ejecting, which most would have done in that situation, he demonstrated remarkable bravery and control in landing the aircraft,” said a Navy spokesman.
Lt Cdr London likened the experience, recounted recently in the BBC television show 999, to “driving an open-top sports car at 300mph”.
Squadron Leader Tony Walsh, speaking from RAF Wittering yesterday, said an investigation would be launched into the crash on the short take-off and landing strip.
The other pilot had been taken to hospital in Nottingham, but was not seriously hurt. “He was being trained to use the T8 Sea Harrier and had already been trained on other aircraft.”
The pilots were on detachment from RNAS Yeovilton because of poor weather and a lack of available runways. Cdr Tim Eastaugh, one of Lt Cdr London’s commanding officers in Yeovilton, said he had received an MBE for his services to fixed-wing aviation in the Navy and was an inspiration to all those with whom he served. “He was a legend. He was a character, larger than life and extremely humorous, but totally unselfish. He was always last to leave and totally dependable.
“With Jack, aviation was a way of life. He wouldn’t have felt complete without it. His father Peter served in the Fleet Air Arm and it was what he always wanted to do.
“His feats were amazing - his flying, his dedication and his hard work.”
The accident is the second this year to befall a Harrier from RAF Wittering.
In August an RAF GR7 Harrier was lost in the sea during an air show. The pilot safely ejected from the plane, which suffered engine failure.
In December 1998 Gp Capt David Haward died when his GR7 Harrier crashed during a barrel roll days after he was named base commander.
© Copyright of Telegraph Group Limited 2002.
I would also like to see a comparison of statistics between the British military and the US marines . I doubt the LA Times will be looking into anything that might explain why the crashes happened, looking only to Damn the entire concept of VTOL.
Incidentally the Brits produced the first Harrier but the Marine Corps developed new tactics for using the aircraft which they taught the Brits who used thenm in the Falklands; such as swivelling one of the vents so the aircraft could turn on a dime.
I knew two of the guys who bought it in Harriers.
Neither of them had ever impressed me with their basic airmanship. They would've eventually killed themselves in Phantoms or Hornets--the specific kill mechanism would have changed, that's all.
This is not a flame or a dig. Seems like I remember some real concern.
Walt
The AV-8B Harrier II is a different beast, with many automated tasks. Some of the technologies in the AV-8B are in the new "Joint Strike Fighter", - hover mode is "hands-off". Try that in an AV-8A and your widow will thank you for the VA home loan at your grave.
As for combat, During the Desert Storm ground war, AV-8Bs were based as close as 35 nautical miles (40.22 miles) from the Kuwait border, making them the most forward deployed tactical strike aircraft in theater. The AV-8B flew 3,380 sorties for a total of 4,083 flight hours while maintaining a mission capable rate in excess of 90%. Average turnaround time during the ground war surge rate flight operations was 23 minutes.
source = Harrier
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