🚀 go-pugleaf

From "Palmer T. Davis" <ptd2@po.cwru.edu>


>But the RAF has the logical plane to fill their needs right under
>their bloomin noses.  The harrier!  
>[N]ot only in the Falklands, but in 'topgun' type
>exercises, the Harrier has proven itself over and over again
>as a powerful interceptor...
>I could go on for hours about the Harrier...and what an effective fighter
>it is...

Last night (or this morning, depending on where you are), the BBC World
Service aired an interesting program entitled "Task Force Orient",
detailing HMS _Invincible_'s deployment to the Far East last year.  The
program included an interview with Lt. Cmdr David Braithwaite (sp?),
CO of 800 Squadron, _Invincible_'s Harrier force.  Braithwaite (who 
flew a Harrier in the Falklands) had this to say about the Harrier's
value as an interceptor:

"...[T]he media has said quite a bit, but the truth is that the turning
ability of the Harrier simply isn't as good as more modern aircraft....
As for dogfighting, it may sound cowardly, but... we prefer to stand off...."

(The above quotes are approximate; I didn't record the show, so this is
from memory twenty hours later.)  The gist was that the FRS.1 is of
strictly limited value as an interceptor.

-- PTD --
-- 
Palmer T. Davis      ___
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