Well, sorta - but "Landing Helicopter Assault ship" isn't nearly as alliterative 😉

Thanks to a discussion about helicopters, of all things, @thepitts brought up how much "fun" it can be to operate a STOVL Harrier from and to a boat.

It's been a long, looong time since I strapped on the famous Jump Jet, but it is truly something different, so I dusted it off to see if I could actually still at least fly the thing...

All I'll say is that I didn't crash, and I did it with just one "bolter"/go-around. But I did take so long to get back on deck that I ended up consuming every pound of water for the engine 🙂

I used to know the proper procedure for bringing a Harrier back aboard an LHA, and it's broadly similar to the regular Case I, II, III recoveries that the fixed wing folks do. But that last little bit where you have to hover like a helicopter is just a little different. 😁

I was so busy trying to remember things that I completely forgot to grab any shots of the take-off from the LHA, but it came back pretty quick.

Here we are after departing the VFR recovery stack, flying parallel to the boat's course at 800' and 350kts.

 

And we don't need to show no stinkin' "arrestor hook" - whatever those are for...!!

 

About 1NM after passing the bow, you hang a left onto downwind, get dirtied up, and swing back around to final. This is where the "fun" begins since you not only have to work the throttle, you've also got to start adjusting the jet nozzles so they're pointing ever more downwards. This allows you to slow down to C172 approach speeds, but it's a manual lever right next to the throttle, so it feels like you need 3 hands (note the jet exhaust pointing both back and downwards here)

 

The boat is steaming something like 20kts, so you've got to get yourself balanced out and moving just a bit faster as you're coming close aboard.

 

This was my second time around after I realized I hadn't slowed down enough on the first approach ("Don't get cocky, Kid!").

 

Second time I was a bit better and just barely managed to match the ship's speed at just about the right time. 

Sliding to starboard to hopefully get back in time for dinner. (note the jet wash again...)

 

This is just about 1' - 2' before touchdown. Not going pretend there wasn't a fair amount of throttle jockeying between this shot and the one above!

 

And that's all, folks! Had a great time knocking the rust off - a REALLY great experience rediscovered. 

Now I just have to remember where I filed my LHA & Harrier NATOPS so I can remember how to do it "right" for next time. 🙂

Edited April 7, 20251 yr by UrgentSiesta

Nice and interesting shots !

cheers 😉

Very nice set! DCS was the only sim which I never understood, it didn't work for me.

11 hours ago, andiflyit said:

Very nice set! DCS was the only sim which I never understood, it didn't work for me.

It's definitely non-traditional if you come from an FSX/XP background. So, yeah, if you approach it like MSFS or XP, it can seem weird at first.

But DCS has always had a full mission system, so every addon comes with a set of training missions custom made for it (SO MUCH easier to learn an aircraft than other sims!).

And the mission system is entirely open for end users, so there are literally thousands of missions available to fly, most free for the download.

And the really great thing is that they started giving free 2-week trials of all the add-ons, so you can dip back in at any time for exactly no cost. 😎

Edited April 7, 20251 yr by UrgentSiesta
Autocorrect corrections

Wow...DCS World...great to see here after a long time...! Anyone who flies DCS World a/c in the SIM has my respects...🙂...one needs to know what one is doing there...No "CTRL E", kick the tires, and floor the Throttles...as this casual simmer likes to do once in a while...🙂...

Wonderful action sequence. My limited (virtual) memories of the (Just Flight) Harrier Jump Jet comes to mind now...Had good fun learning to hover with that a/c SIM...

Thanks for sharing...!