Jet vertical take-off (Hawker P.1127 and Harrier)
Despegue vertical a reacción (Hawker P.1127 y Harrier)
- Date
- 1960 · confidence high
- Place
- Dunsfold, Surrey, United Kingdom
- Credited to
- Hawker Siddeley, Bristol Siddeley and Stanley Hooker
- Field
- Movement
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
A combat aircraft able to take off and land vertically with a single vectored-thrust turbofan (Pegasus), with rotating nozzles. The Hawker P.1127 made its first hover in 1960 and the Harrier entered service in 1969.
The Soviet Yak-38 and German Dornier Do 31 followed different VTOL paths; the P.1127 made its first tethered hover on 21 October 1960 and free hover on 19 November.
What it led to
- operations from small ships and improvised strips
- the F-35B vertical-landing fighter