The Takeoff Maneuver So Dangerous the RAF Banned It
YouTube / chrisschmitz_osint
At Farnborough in 1982, test pilot John Farley hovered a Harrier at 100 feet, pitched the nose up 60 degrees, and rocketed straight into the sky. Service pilots were strictly forbidden from attempting it.
The danger wasn’t the climb. During the pitch-up, the natural instinct is to keep rotating the nozzles rearward. Past 80 degrees, the bleed thrust nozzles that provide roll, yaw, and pitch control at low speed shut down. At 100 feet with the nose pointed skyward and airspeed near zero, losing those systems ends the flight. Farley knew exactly where that threshold was.
Farley knew exactly where the line was. The ban existed because most pilots did not…
