The Captain's Neverending Supply of Harriers

Captain Canada · March 21, 2005, 08:17:46 PM

Hey !

Now that I've finally got my ALARMs, I've began working on my SlingSHAR again. A SlingSHAR is a catapault launched sea-going a/c, that uses JATO bottles to gain speed and altitude, greatly increasing it's range. They have no landing gear, again to improve range. Recovery is performed by a winch and cable/ beartrap system. This two-seater also has the big spine, carrying fuel and avionics.

The Rat · March 21, 2005, 09:03:27 PM

Lookin' good! But without gear, what does it actually sit on? Skids like a helicopter? Perhaps retractable ones? One possible problem I see is that if the airframe doesn't sit far off the deck the jet efflux could cause some damge from the heat. Or does it get hauled down into some sort of support trolley?

Hobbes · March 21, 2005, 11:56:09 PM

No Skyhook?

lancer · March 22, 2005, 02:17:56 AM

Looking good there Toad...lts see it Finished now!

nev · March 22, 2005, 04:13:12 AM

Looks like you've done a fair old bit of splicing there Todd. Hows about a photo of the front so's we can see all the work you've done? B)

Captain Canada · March 22, 2005, 02:32:03 PM

QuoteLookin' good! But without gear, what does it actually sit on? Skids like a helicopter? Perhaps retractable ones? One possible problem I see is that if the airframe doesn't sit far off the deck the jet efflux could cause some damge from the heat. Or does it get hauled down into some sort of support trolley?

Hey Rat,
My Idea is to have a central retractable rod in the center of the centreline pylon. It will carry a drop tank, so that must be jettisoned before alighting. The cable will drop down and be retrieved by the beartrap, and then the SHAR will be pulled down onto a cradle.

Captain Canada · March 22, 2005, 02:35:46 PM

QuoteNo Skyhook?

No skyhook. Although it looks neat, the Canadian Admiralty has deemed it impractical in the harsh environment of the North Atlantic. Prefering instead the Canadian devloped Beartrap system.

Captain Canada · March 22, 2005, 02:39:55 PM

QuoteLooks like you've done a fair old bit of splicing there Todd. Hows about a photo of the front so's we can see all the work you've done? B)

Not much....a little bump from the GR.4 kit and the same German bomb nose that my Aggressor Hawk had.

I hope to do some more work on her tonite...so check in later for another in-progress pic !

Amphion · March 23, 2005, 01:41:06 PM

Quote...... Although it looks neat..........

I'll second that.

Looks like something that could be deployed by the RSwN.

elmayerle · March 23, 2005, 02:12:25 PM

If anyone is interested, I have managed to acquire a copy of the BAE brochure on the Skyhook system with seme decent details and such for the modeler.

Captain Canada · March 23, 2005, 04:21:10 PM

Like I said, it looks neat and all, but how do you recover a jet in heavy sea states ? Is the arm ( or crane or what-have-you ) compensated for the roll of the ship ?

Seems alot easier to just haul the SHAR down via cable like the beartrap used of CDN ships.

viper29_ca · March 23, 2005, 04:49:06 PM

Why not make it easier, and just land on the rear deck, and then roll the Harrier into the hangar deck....looks like a straight shot right through.

Redesign the rear of the ship so it has an upper level deck and hangar for the helo(s)

Madoc · March 23, 2005, 04:55:31 PM

QuoteLike I said, it looks neat and all, but how do you recover a jet in heavy sea states ? Is the arm ( or crane or what-have-you ) compensated for the roll of the ship ?

Seems alot easier to just haul the SHAR down via cable like the beartrap used of CDN ships.

As I recall, that system was designed to snag the Harrier in _any_ sea state. All the pilot had to do was hold his jet steady with a rather basic aiming point on the grappling arm mount. That mount was three-axis stabilized and even if the ship was bucking and heaving all over the place it would've been rock steady.

The crane would've extended a docking (latching?) arm down from its tip. That arm would've been what first contacted the latch point on the Harrier's surface. With a positive latching indicated, the arm would've been reeled up and steadied with the rest of the crane until the crane's support arms made full contact with the jet. At this point the Harrier would've been firmly grasped and locked in. With that feat achieved, the crane would've been able to move the jet aboard and on to its shipboard cradle.

From the literature I've read about this, the Harrier could've been fully serviced on deck - automatically. This included not only refueling but also rearming. This was to allow operations in a NBC contaminated environment. With the plane regenerated it was simply hoisted aloft and overboard for a reverse of its "docking" procedure.

Hawker Siddley did develop the latching / docking mechanism on its own and tested it out pretty fully. It still could be deployed.

Madoc

The Rat · March 23, 2005, 06:55:25 PM

QuoteAs I recall, that system was designed to snag the Harrier in _any_ sea state.

Not saying it wouldn't work, in fact I have no doubt that it would, but the Beartrap is so simple in concept, construction, and use that I don't see how it could be bettered.

Captain Canada · March 23, 2005, 08:16:24 PM

Preach it, brother rat !