Jet Fighter Generation : 3rd The Hawker Siddeley Harrier

Video from the channel Non-Contenttal about Hawker Siddeley Harrier, linked on its Above Ten Thousand entry. Duration: 4:05. Language: English. Video type: Documentary.

A short explainer piece, narrated as an essay, about the origins of the Hawker Siddeley Harrier. It sets the story in the Cold War, when conventional air bases were seen as increasingly vulnerable and the search was on for an aircraft able to operate without runways.

It credits the idea to Stanley Hooker, an engineer at the engine maker Bristol, who envisioned an aircraft with a single engine whose thrust could be directed downward to take off and land vertically. Hawker Siddeley turned that idea into a vertical take-off fighter project.

It highlights the P.1127 prototype, flown by Bill Bedford, which demonstrated the transition between vertical and horizontal flight. A test program followed, with stability and engine problems that, by the mid-1960s, had produced a reliable aircraft. The video also mentions its role in the Falklands War.