Harrier: The Vertical Reality (Documentary 1996) 

A great honer being given the job of marshalling a RAF Harrier into his hide, out in the field. My Boss who was a brigade forward air controller was talking to some senior RAF officers when they suddenly realised that they had an incoming Harrier and no one to marshal it in. So the call came "Corporal Cliff would you op over and marshal this incoming aircraft into it's hide". Like Jack Flash I was over to the landing area and seeing the A/C down and into the hide. Not bad for a Army Forward Air Control Operator NCO who at the most only marshalled helicopters into place. I did say thank you to my Boss When we were on our own. That was the nearest that I ever got to the Harrier before leaving the army.

Tons of real footage, very well organised and highly informative. It's hard to find a documentary with such quality these days. Thanks for uploading it!

I took the USS Boxer home from Iraq back in 03 and they had the AV8’s do some touch and go’s on the flight deck..... it was awesome. Absolutely loud, but awesome.

Excellent documentary, GR1s looked so good with the classic RAF camo markings and roundels

This really got me excited for the DCS Harrier! Thank you :)

Best airplane ever for this purpose. Such a pity that the Government quit while they could have done so much more for British Aerospace industry.

What a beautiful piece of engineering

That hangar became the Top Gear studio.

One of my favorite fighters, after the F14 Tomcat.

I saw the fly by wire Harrier at RAE Bedford back when I was in RAF Cadets (summer camp, either 1988, 1989 or 1990, can't remember). It nodded at us when we were in the control tower and it was testing on the runway. Later on we saw it in a hangar, which made a nice change from Canberra after Canberra after Canberra after....

This has to be the best, most informative doco on the Harrier I've ever seen. The extended POV section at the end is fantastic. Best of all, no stupid techno/rock soundtrack added.

What a nice documentary! Fascinating!

Sadly no mention of the development. As a lad, i am now 75, i used to lie on a track in a place called The Misk Hills (between Bulwell and Hucknall Nottinghamshire) and watch the Vulcans landing, also the testing of the, so called, "Flying Bedstead" being tested at Hucknall Airfield. Although it was a good distance to look It seemed at times quit erratic and prone to tilting or even tipping over, there was a pub built and named the Flying Bedstead for many years, sadly now demolished.

Amazing how large and varied the Harrier family tree is. Kestrel, Harrier I, Harrier II, Sea Harrier, plus all the subvariants and export models. The USMC technically has had only two models, the AV-8A and the AV-8B, but the AV-8B alone has at least three variants, the basic AV-8B, the Night Attack version, and the Harrier II+ radar version, all the same basic airframe but with different nose fairings and avionics upgrades. Hard to keep track of them all. It's a shame that they're being phased out, but the Harrier has been around for half a century now, more than most tactical aircraft can boast. The Harrier II is truly a beautiful machine, clean lines, bubble canopy, smoother intakes, love it.

I had no idea they would camouflage these things in light woods for quick reaction. DCS AV8 here I come

Superb invention.

good doc for a great machine.

awesome video. I wish we could get this in 1080.

such a treat to fly, it's advantages are great

Harrier , Warrior 4 Freedom.

video aspect ratio is messed up :(

Best time of my life was in Belize with the harriers, managed to wangle 2 tours back to back.

so impressive to watch

My all time favorite killstreak

The early Harriers whee the prettiest.

Awesome chairs. My Nan would approve 😂 Do Spain Spain still operate harriers?

Is this meant to be in 16:9?

viffing was 1st done during the falklands war by royal navy and RAF pilots in 1982. the US marines didnt want the harrier till they saw how good it was in a real combat situation. But when the marines wanted it they were told no as it wasnt an american plane. So mcdonald douglas bought the rights to make it in the USA so the marines could have them. At 1st every laughed at the harrier cause it was sub sonic. then when they saw it in action during the falklands war loads of orders came in for it. Hawker have a very long history of making very good planes dating back to WWI. The eurofighter is the latest plane designed by the hawker team. Even though hawker is now part of british aerospace like supermarine, vickers and all the other brit plane makers they all still have their own design teams within british aerospace. The hawker hart from WWI was developed into the Fury which in turn was developed into the hurricane then tempest and typhoon then into the hunter now the eurofighter which is basicly a hurricane updated. Thats how hawker work. they designed their 1st plane then just developed it as time went past to improve it as new tech came along. with the fury all they did was take the top wing off lowered and made the bottom wing bigger put the merlin engine in to replace the older engine a few changes in the fusalage so the merlin would fit and its done. The hurricane used during the battle of britain was a mix of new builds and fury convertions. The hawker fury even though it was a biplane was used during the battle of britain while awaiting conversion to hurricanes. the fury,s proved better than the spits in dogfights even though they were very slow compared to the latest fighters. Thats the mistake most make when making planes now. they think speed is better than manouvrability. but the huricane and fury proved that speed doesnt really help in a dogfight. the harrier also proved that speed is not much good in dogfights where ur within visual range of the enemy. then its who can turn fastest not speed that counts.

Need to download and reformat.

He said seven air arms fly the Harrier. Beside the U.K., U.S. and Spain (as the Matador) who else flies them? I do like the look of the early GR.1/AV-8A in these colors 18:12 (before the white was removed from the markings) and before the cockpit was raised. Purest of the breed! (I also prefer the F.1 or F.2 Lightning as well!)

This was a cool jet for its time

Anyone knows what the "V" are on the HUD ?

The Brits did it again.

The Harrier can vertically take off and land (VTOL), but the F-35 is only short take off and vertical land (STOVL), right?

1:03:06 David Jason and his van :)

one off he best aircraft and yet gov sold us out

Guys so young!! O_O

These jets can fly at sub sonic speed.

Same logic as the notar on the helicopters

like the lightnings in 87,escorting a timmy into falklands.

The magic of the Pegasus engine. The A models tended to turn turtle (flip over).

33 people clearly don't like hovering...

Harrier pilots. A breed apart.

Want to see a great C-130??? Check out FAT ALBERT that flys with the BLUE ANGELS.. I didn't know an aircraft could do such things.

tornado in action again

I just love British camo... that blue and blue grey....

well they didnt had to leave in all the engine noises all the movie its whistling like a train

In the 90's in aussie, one of those exact practice bombs accidentally fell somewhere around Newcastle NSW, vaporizing the poor lady's clothes line.

40:19 GC still in the air? So good. Love the poms (im ex RAAF).

thats usual ,for any gov,in uk

sorry for the spam, those rear speed-brakes must get smashed often no?

WOW! Anybody's seen my jaw? ;-)

41:20 AIM-9 11?

what UK used to be like before the EU, full of innovation, ambition and courage.

Best way to describe the hick manuever... is ya know when your pushing a turd really hard and its giant so you flex ever muscle in your body including your core muscles? That's what you gotta do to stay awake. Do not fly.... if you have a stomach bug 😂😂😂 many a fighter pilots learn that lesson fast

hot air dosn't squirt upward! :/

with full weopan and fuel load,no aircraft even harrier can take off verticly

I have to admit that the British got it right with the Harrier AND the steam catapult and steel decks on their aircraft carriers just sayin.

The ultimate in thrust vectoring.

FOLLOW MY URDER TO SELF ALL THE TIME ALERT AND READY

Amazing aircraft but not a very good fighting machine..in a NATO European conflict against Russia it would have performed very badly..in NATO exercises it spent an inordinate amount in maintenance because of equipment failure.. its success in the Falklands was down the latest mark of the sidewinder missile being released to them by the states... sorry...

Zzzzzit may have been the best ADF in Europe at the time but it didn't stop the shortnsighted government cutting it at the time!

Definitely another Great British invention a beautiful design and buy todays standards a simple design. No one has done better. The F-35 is the most expensive design failure in mil history. And any thinking otherwise is just magical thinking of Empire and it's sheeple.

3:50 I had to stop watching when he said, "Leever" instead of lever.