| From: | Gurth <gurth@******.NL> |
|---|---|
| Subject: | Stonewall again (was Re: Southerner's Rant) |
| Date: | Fri, 17 Jul 1998 12:28:40 +0100 |
> I have one question, a serious one. Exactly how heavy is a Harrier Jump
> Jet???
A Harrier GR Mk. 5 may weigh some 8,600 kg for maximum
vertical takeoff, or 14,000 kg for short takeoff. The American TAV-
8B variant (the two-seat trainer model of the AV-8B used by the
USMC, equivalent to the British GR Mk. 5) has a maximum short
takeoff weight of some 13,500 kg. These are all _maximum_
weights, for the aircraft, crew, weapons, etc. (Data from the
1989/90 edition of "Observer's Aircraft" by William Green.)
If a Harrier can weigh 15 tons, then you can lift a light tank (like
a GMC Banshee) as well, though it would have to have some kind
of "lifting body" shape -- where the whole body functions as a
wing -- else it won't get off the ground very well. Luckily, the
drawings of the LAVs in SR all seem to show a shape that might
work for this.
I have to agree with Jon Szeto that it's a very impractical way of
getting a 45+-ton vehicle off the ground; I've had my doubts
about the Stonewall ever since I first bought the RBB (mainly
along the lines of "Why would anyone build this? What's its
practical use?") although the idea that the thing is one big hoax
by the CAS does come off as another one of Mike Mulvihill's
changes that IMHO are too drastic... Perhaps a better solution
would be to say it does exist, but isn't much more advanced than
a Banshee -- maybe a bit heavier (and a lot worse to pilot
because of it), equipped with more mundane weapons than is
claimed in the press releases, and so on.
Or perhaps something similar to what the Germans did with their
Neubaufahrzeuge from the late 1930s, or the Russians with their
IS-3 at the 1945 Berlin victory parade: build a handful of them,
and show them to the press at every possible opportunity to give
the impression that you have many more than you actually do.
(For the historical perspective, the Germans had seven (or
perhaps nine, I can't remember right now) Neubaufahrzeuge but
made _lots_ of photos of them in Norway in spring 1940, leading
the allies to believe they had a wholefleet of them. Likewise, the
Russians displayed just about all the pre-production series IS-3
(Josef Stalin-3) heavy tanks they had at the Berlin parade,
making it out as if they had thousands and only sent those they
could spare to Berlin.)
--
Gurth@******.nl - http://www.xs4all.nl/~gurth/index.html
"That's IT, lunchbox!!! We'll go to Shermer, Illinois!"
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