Oh..hello there...(Harrier first impressions..)

Thanks - I’m glad you enjoyed the off-the-cuff, uninformed impressions. I knew this module would drop into my lap the day before I go on vacation (argh…!). The same thing happened with the Su-33…it shipped the day I headed to Puerto Rico for two weeks (I still haven’t had a chance to try it…!). Now I’m going to be out of town for a week on a parents only vacation (woohoo!) while I have some friends and family watch the kids. I probably can’t huck all my rig to Cozumel with me… :thinking:

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Stick the files in a drop box link, we can test it for you in your absence :grin:

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You actually took a little bit of a hit for the team there, @BeachAV8R. Instead of popping on the VR and doing what you probably wanted to do, which was land on the roof of the Mandalay Bay (or whatever the Russians called it), you used your limited time to make a nice preview. Thanks!

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Meanwhile, I expect lots of fishing and snorkeling pictures in your AAR when you get back - you’re heading to one of my favorite spots on Earth, and I’m more than a little jealous.

Hope you two have a blast!

I’ll be in Cozumel on the 21st I think. Been there many times in the last 20 years, it’s a nice place to visit but not sufficiently distinct from where I live to stay long–sun, heat, beaches, and the majority are speaking Spanish? Yeah, that sounds like my home pretty much.

As for the plane, it’s STOVL, it’s not VTOL, so don’t expect to VTO with any sort of usable payload. :wink:

I believe it can do a VTO with a gross weight of up to 21000 lbs, more if it’s colder. So you could potentially take off with 6 500lbs bombs and a bit under half filled fuel tanks. I’d be happy to try and provide a demonstration :grin:

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I’m interested in the sounds as well. Does it capture that unique “spool down” noise the Harrier makes after a vertical thrust assisted landing?

I’m sold anyway. :grin:

Not yet - it has sounds, but apparently they aren’t the sounds that will be shipping with it (from what I’ve read)…

So I had a little more time available tonight after packing…and got to wondering…

Loaded up the Harrier and Normandy, set 50% fuel and attempted my first vertical takeoff. It went very well, around 98% power initially to pop off the ground. Once airborne I had a little bit of roll type PIO that I finally got sorted out. Not hard PIO, just sort of a wallow back and forth. I had weather set to the SUMMER/CLOUDY preset, but dialed the turbulence back to 3 (m/s?) or whatever setting that was. So there was a little bit of bumps…and some breeze blowing. I placed CG-60 moving parallel to the coast at 20 knots (mph? can’t remember what the editor defaults to)…

Balanced on the pillar of thrust. I had enough reserve to continue higher…and I did have the H2O switch on, and got a warning a minute or so later that I was out of water and did notice a reduction in thrust…

Since the ship was only a few miles away, I elected to just bump the nozzles back 10 or so degrees and sort of helicopter it over there by pitching the nose over. It flies pretty good that way, although I’m sure the maintenance guys were grimacing at that configuration the whole time…

Came up behind the ship and decided the best approach would be to stay just off the port side, ease up on it and keep the deck in view out the bottom right side of the canopy, and then sort of make a diagonal descending approach down toward a fixed spot. I had no idea whether the plane would actually fit on the deck or not…

I think I was around 3,100 lbs. of fuel at this point…having burned off somewhere around 700 in the couple of minutes I was airborne…

I dunno…by my WAG it looks like it’ll fit…

Taking screenshots made me wobble around a bit and I had to back off and come at it again, but the thing really flies very helicopter-ish (except for the whole push for power thing). It is definitely one of those shoulder ache inducing stressful type of flying things though…like I said, very helicopter-ish…

And we are there! The touchdown was firm, but not hard, and I didn’t hear anything break, but it does look like my left missile rail was pretty darn close to going through the deck rail…

Like a glove…!

And a landing message was shown…so I guess (?) you could presumably refuel (rearm?) from a ship like this? I dunno…(well, I just tried bringing up the ground menu and it didn’t work…so maybe not…)

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And then…there was…a…errr…mishap. So I took off from the ship. Very light and nimble at that weight. Gained about 200’ and then decided to do the whole pitch up while simultaneously moving the nozzles to zero. Well…to my great surprise, it worked…! Accelerated up and away. And I wanted to do it again and get it on video. So I went nozzles to around 100 to get back into the stable hover, and reduced my throttle a bit, and as I slowed…I started sinking, and sinking, and crap…more power…more power…alllllllll the power. Nope. Not enough. I guess I had reached that VSI number similar to the Mi-8 (although I know the dynamics are different) from which recovery was not possible.

Fortunately the ship was still there ready to pluck me out…

Sorry I wrecked your Harrier RAZBAM and Wags…might I suggest a payroll deduction?

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That picture is hilarious - You traded one VTOL platform for another…

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See…in ARMA I’d be able to swim to the ship, commandeer a RIB and go back to base and eat a proper dinner.

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And that trajectory almost made it look like I’d land back on the helipad…!

I bet you can’t do it… :wink:

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That’s actually been the cause of a few crashes in the Osprey community. Helicopter pilots try and use helicopter techniques to fly a VTOL, crash VTOL.

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Hmmm…SWOs…in this case CRUDES SWOs…knowing CRUDES SWOs as I do, as soon as they get you on board, they’ll put you on watch…and then yell at you because you are behind on your Advanced Damage Control PQS or some such nonsense…you are definitely not getting off that thing until you’ve done a 3M spot check or two.

If it were me, I’d stay in the raft until the “Gator Freighter” came along…we are much more relaxed in the Amphib Navy. (SIO in USS GUAM, 1992-1994)…just say’n.

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Boy I really need a “Military Lingo” dictionary!

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More and less informed guesses:

CRUDES = Cruiser Destroyer (As in Cruiser Destroyer Squadron)
SWO = Surface Warfare Officer
Gator = Ships involved in Amphibious Operations (LPH, LHA, LHD, LPD, LSD, etc.)
PQS = Performance Qualification Standard

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Hat’s off

I thought I was up on my Navy banter but this is what it sounded like to me. :face_with_raised_eyebrow:

https://youtu.be/myIB1TrPpTE

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