Sea Harrier vs USS George Washington | Jon Parker (Clip)

[@kevkeates]

I was serving on Invincible then as an aircraft engineer. I remember being told this story back then, what we told also was that we'd incapacitated USS George Washington's steam catapult before they were able to launch any aircraft. It was something that always stuck with me that the US might have bigger ships more aircraft etc but they aren't the Royal Navy, the best Navy in the world.

[@nirfz]

Didn't a single swedish submarine similatedly sink a US aircraft carrier and several other ships of the carrierfleet wihtout getting caught? (The US then even tried to purchase a model of the submraine to study it) Comming from a landlocked country i won't judge "who has the best Navy" but from the things i have read, watched and listened to, it seems the biggest Flaw of the US Navy is that they at times drastically underestimate everybody else or overestimate themselves. (And i haven't encountered much info about other Navys doing that)

[@edwardstables5153]

Yep! They completely underestimated the sub force because they "just" had small diesel boats. Completely forgetting that in a short range environment like the baltic, a diesel electric sub is even more deadly than a nuclear boat due to being smaller and quieter.

[@davedevonlad7402]

My father in law served on "O Boats" diesel/electric submarines in the Royal Navy years ago and on a few occasions "sunk" American carriers a few times in practice while not being spotted or caught by the American task force. He told me his sub hid underneath a carrier for hours without detection and when the time was right they made themselves visible by coming to periscope depth and raising everything they had so the Americans could "find" them. To say the American navy wasn't very good at finding diesel/electric subs was and still is an understatement.

[@recoswell]

keep dreamin dude - pc a carrier has 4 cats and harrier is vertical take off

[@paulgeraghty1448]

It was not a dream it was an exercise.

[@djmeyer1972]

I could listen to this bloke all day. Fantastic story teller and incredible pilot.

[@AntonioGarcia-zr9uc]

British call signs: Binky & Bonky USA call signs: Maverick & Iceman

[@douglasabbott9488]

That was in a movie, reality is a little different

[@howardchambers9679]

@@douglasabbott9488 whoosh

[@hawker1262]

@Derek well spill it then, don’t keep us all in suspense!

[@matthayward7889]

Love the Shar, and love stories like this!

[@yassermasood3423]

what a humble guy. Proper cool pilot

[@tonyhaynes9080]

Might I suggest that you check out the interview with a Buccaneer pilot doing Red Flag at Vegas? I think it will tickle your sense of humour.

[@bimble7240]

"Are you looking at my pint?" That's fighting talk !! 😁

[@paladin5163]

It's this kind of thinking that put the Great in Great Britain. Marvelous stuff.

[@laurencethornblade8357]

Took you delinquent dead beats 60 years to pay off your debt. Fricken dead beats.

[@crispinaske8293]

@@laurencethornblade8357 At least we honoured our debt by paying it.

[@realMaverickBuckley]

@Mark Hepworth Christ, there's always some miserable ding-dong talking politics.

[@davebrown9707]

@Mark Hepworth yeah why what the fuck is it to you?

[@timwingham8952]

And it's the double l in marvellous that makes marvellous marvellous.

[@patrickflohe7427]

I’d like to hear more from this guy. JP, Bruce Gordon, Jeff Guinn, Ian Black….I think I’ve enjoyed hearing from these guys the most.

[@BlueMoonday19]

Great post by the way, loving this guy's interview

[@descamm9313]

You could listen to this guy and other pilot's that's been there and done the deed, brilliant stuff.. 👍🏻

[@Aircrewinterview]

Cheers Des.

[@michaelalanpowell]

Naval Aviators...I'm in awe! What a great story.

[@agincourt141]

Great stuff, enjoyed that.

[@troyledbetter6597]

Great interview!

[@PBazBarrett]

That was great! Thanks for sharing a great story..

[@whiskeysk]

this is brilliant!

[@matap3021]

don't know about Navy fast jets. but always admired their chopper Pilots. If you were lucky even let you try and fly.

[@Chaddlee]

Very cool interview with a very cool guy.

[@BipoIarbear]

Redbull doesn't give u wings this guy does. Hero

[@georgemorley1029]

"No cuff too tough". INVINCIBLE and ARK ROYAL are my old ships and I loved them to bits and I miss them a hell of a lot. I was with QUEEN ELIZABETH in build Rosyth and haven't been back to her since, but I'll tell you what, she'll have to go some to match them, her and PRINCE OF WALES. And as for LUSTY BIN, we don't drag that name up if we can help it - "the other one". Yuck.

[@reaganpenner7371]

Dry your eyes wet pants get cracking, love that saying!

[@adamsnook9542]

Woof woof!

[@georgemorley1029]

Crack on, lofty!

[@K3rbalSpace]

Brillant, made me chuckle!

[@Aircrewinterview]

Cheers :)

[@rooramblingon895]

WOW these guys are something special...🤩 These days I can imagine someone would sue for feeling unsafe in a war zone! 🙄

[@michaelmacdonell4834]

(Stares in Black Watch)

[@richieismyhero]

What a great story!

[@Kresnov]

I want to meet this man and but him a pint, brilliant story teller.

[@tonkerdog1]

Great interviewing. Short questions, let’s guest talk.

[@Aircrewinterview]

Glad you enjoyed it, Chris.

[@patrickflohe7427]

I agree.

[@johnsanders2266]

BZ Crab! Experience of the finest kind!

[@blooter6360]

Amazing story

[@raythomas7999]

What an amazing story!

[@TeaVR]

A well told story!!!

[@matthewnewnham-runner-writer]

"Dry your eyes, wetpants, get cracking." - Love it. In the USAFE, we used to joke that "Flexibility is the key to air power." (i.e. Be ready for change... constantly.)

[@johnx9318]

Gave me a great grin - thanks! (Ex RN)

[@martinbayliss3868]

The Royal Navy should still be flying these beauties. I think an FRS2 could give a F35B a good hiding. A FRS2 up-engined with the Pegasus Mk 107 with an extra two to three thousand pounds of thrust and the VAAC Harrier FBW system could definitely wipe the floor with a F35b. Interestingly, the f35b is supposed to be a supersonic replacement for the Sea Harrier but it turns out after trillions in development the f35b performance is about the same as the Sea Harrier, but the Sea Harrier FRS2 with the Mk 107 engine would probably out perform the f35b. The decision to retire the SHAR early and never make all the upgrades this war winning jet deserved was nothing short of criminal. But you look at the state of the UK at the moment and it hardly surprises.

[@Joker-yw9hl]

Yes I've heard that post-2008 recession the British Government made a choice to either axe the Tornado early or the Harriers. They chose the latter

[@ivorharden]

I'm surprised the UK has got an F35 fleet and not some BAE Hawks with a catobar.

[@martinbayliss3868]

@@Joker-yw9hl given the Tornado was warm out in 2008 the decision to retire the Sea Harrier and later the GR9 was doubly criminal and made absolutely no sense.

[@AA-xo9uw]

"but it turns out after trillions in development the f35b performance is about the same as the Sea Harrier, "(sic) Only in the mind of a neophyte. "but the Sea Harrier FRS2 with the Mk 107 engine would probably out perform the f35b."(sic) Nope. You'd need to start with a clean sheet of paper. Even the never built P.1154 wouldn't have been able to compete with the F-35B.

[@martinbayliss3868]

@@AA-xo9uw For various reasons the f35b rarely goes supersonic and if it does it is limited to Mach 1.3 and cannot sustain it for long, particularly with the external stores it needs to be operationally useful (and hence looses the tiny stealth advantage it is supposed to have). So essentially similar to the Sea Harrier in terms of speed then (minus the vertical take off and agility). As for the P1154, that was a Mach two plus interceptor and hence would have been a real hot ship. I think the f35 has been grounded again due to its latest crash and the fact they can't work out what happened. It's obvious, the undercarriage architecture means in a hard bounce landing it pitches and rolls beyond the control authority possible in the hover and lost control. Once again when you look at the Harrier the very wide undercarriage (wheels on the wing tips) makes the Harrier passively stable in such circumstances. The f35b is just an utter failure. The UK should cancel it and even consider pursuing the US for compensation.

[@martiniv8924]

Brilliant 👌🏻😎

[@silverknight4886]

The aircraft behind the interviewees right shoulder (not the Harrier in the foreground), is that a Chipmunk? Piston engined tandem seat Canadian built flight trainer for the RAF for many years

[@Steamerbeen]

This guy the bomb

[@patrickcowan6134]

Seek out Graham Andrews... he would be a brilliant interviewee... flown hundreds of aeroplanes in RAF and as RR then Shorts test pilot

[@willsabri4815]

This was a great interview, you should see if you could interview Sharky Ward

[@willsabri4815]

@@pgs1796 I agree that he has given good accounts elsewhere, still would like to see him on the channel because of how the videos on this channel are structured and it would be interesting to hear what he has to say.

[@donfelipe7510]

So who won this "battle?" Imagine if those two sea harriers that managed to sneak up on the American carrier had been armed with anti ship missiles or even just some bombs would have made a proper mess of a carrier's flight deck even without sinking the ship. Sea Harrier FRS Mk II had an excellent radar called Blue Vixen I believe, second only to the Foxhunter on the Tornado F.3.

[@bobdylan7120]

You do know that the original Tornado Fighter Variants more often than not flew with concrete ballast in the nose, because the radar was so bad it wasn't worth installing. In fact they were called the Blue Circle Fighters (after the company that made the cement powder).

[@donfelipe7510]

@@bobdylan7120 I believe that was the Tornado F Mk 2 which in most respects was ready pending the development of the Foxhunter radar system later fitted on the F Mk 3. Once Foxhunter was ready to be deployed it was a very good radar system. However your are correct about the Blue Circle story. They needed some way to simulate the weight of the radar being in place to keep the plane balanced correctly. I don't believe the F.2 ever saw active service and was more a prototype and testing aircraft. An interceptor with no radar would be next to useless.

[@andrewdeacon8315]

Blue vixen for the basis for the typhoons captor it was certainly newer and better than fox hunter

[@mac22011964]

Blue Vixen was one of the best radars of its time in managing multiple contacts, combined with the AMRAAM was a potent platform.

[@sichere]

@@bobdylan7120 The "Blue circle radar" was only fitted due to the rapid and continual development of the Foxhunter Radar, it enabled the pilots to familiarise themselves with the Tornado airframe characteristics first prior to full deployment. The early Foxhunter radars when tested were found to be lacking in engaging multiple targets that could rapidly change height, such as the F6 EEL's.

[@renngretsch]

When listening to the start of the video, all I could think of was Donald and Davey Stott.

[@cyberherbalist]

What is this "F3" he speaks of at the beginning?

[@Aircrewinterview]

Tornado F3

[@cyberherbalist]

@@Aircrewinterview - Ah ha! Thanks! I try to keep up with aircraft identifiers, but that one was new to me. More study needed! And that version of the Tornado seems to be one sharp airplane!

[@Phil-xb4ng]

F3 tornado I would imagine

[@ivorharden]

Tornado ads

[@MrpurpleA]

A see haria is one best fighter jets probably in 1980s

[@BlueMoonday19]

Can someone please explain the photo of the F3 with the Maple Leaf roundel?

[@philup4947]

It is the 5 squadron marking and symbolises the close ties with the Canadians during WW1.

[@BlueMoonday19]

@@philup4947 nice one, thanks!

[@themisspultone]

ahh the 'chuck em in the deep end' flight school

[@Rabmac1UK]

/ Salute.

[@bremnersghost948]

Won't see this Story in Top Gun 2 ;-)

[@EvoraGT430]

How did JP end up on the SHAR? He was in the RAF!

[@1chish]

In 1982 there were many RAF pilots in SHARS attached to the relevant 800 and 801 NAS and even more in the scratch formed 809 NAS. For example 4 were ex Lightning pilots from RAF Harrier squadrons and deployed because of their combat experience.

[@paulmcphie1596]

The best way not to burn to death is LDG at ZFW.

[@EvoraGT430]

Then your tanks are full of vapour.....so no.

[@thebeautifulones5436]

"he took me under his wing"

[@sichere]

This shoiuld be a series called Jon "Pilkington" Parker - Not an Idiot aboard

[@michaeld1170]

F-16 pilots who transition to F/A-18s: The Hornet has great slow speed maneuverability but has no energy, I prefer the Viper because….high energy…pulling Gs, staying at 9G…. Bug driver that transitions to Viper: The Viper has good energy but is horrible at slow speeds…alpha, alpha, alpha, high AoA… The only pilots I know who prefer the performance plane that they transition to are pilots who transition to Raptors

[@puffin51]

Typical Royal Navy. Things do NOT go to plan, so we do it anyway. Reminds me of he action off New Georgia in the South Atlantic war of 1982. The Prime Minister was advised, fifteen degrees of frost, gusting force eight gale, sea state 6, sleet, the choppers are trying to get off icy, pitching decks. "Should we postpone the operation?" the PM asked. "Oh, no, ma'am," replied the CNO. "If we were to do that, the weather might turn unpleasant." That's the RN, God bless 'em.

[@darbyheavey406]

The Royal Navy ignored the US Navy liaison officers on munitions consumption in modern war. Vietnam taught us how much ammo would be consumed. US had to rearm the Royal Navy at sea shortly after hostilities started.

[@sichere]

@@darbyheavey406 Only after the Atlantic Conveyor was lost and the Brits had things covered, as her sister ship the Atlantic Causeway arrived a few days later but the sinking caused great difficulties for them.

[@timgosling6189]

It's great that Jon is good enough to wing things and get a good outcome. But as a former auth, there are just so many red flags all over this. At least any Board of Inquiry wouldn't be scratching around for something to write!

[@hawker1262]

The freedom and ingenuity to wing things is what would be required in war so it makes perfect sense to practice that approach in training. It really is so tiresome when red tape and procedure get their filthy mitts on things.

[@timgosling6189]

@@hawker1262 It's proper training and experience that allows you to 'wing it' and succeed in unforeseen circumstances. This was a totally foreseeable circumstance with no operational necessity. He was lucky. If he'd screwed up would you want to be the one to tell his family?

[@andreinarangel6227]

I remember both SHAR's and RAF Tornados "attacking" my USN frigate. We had the FCS crosshairs on them constantly (read: KIA in a real party).

[@BMH1965]

What about the time when 2 Vulcans 'dropped' atomic bombs on the mainland USA! Events kept secret for about 30 years as it really embarrassed the US defences - on 2 separate occasions.

[@darbyheavey406]

I’m glad your an Ally.

[@andrewbayram765]

I think they did it more then once.

[@sichere]

And in 1974 the EEL that "Bounced" the SR71 in mid Atlantic that was setting a crossing speed record

[@furbs9999]

Ricky Gervais (David Brent) of the air!

[@AM-lh7rw]

😂

[@recoswell]

harrier is a joke plane - totally useless

[@marlenehoy2487]

Ask the Argentines what they think of "la muertra negra". Now go home!