The Harrier changes thus far this update have been excellent but wanted to create a thread to highlight additional bug reports that could and should be actioned this major update alongside the current changes
First, the removal the sooty exhaust from ALL airframes as per my own bug report on this matter:
The pressence of this sooty exhaust makes locating and identifying Harriers at fairly long range very very easy. Especially impactful in gamemodes without markers like GRB and ASB. This is a most significant buff for the Harriers ar BRs where radars, especially those with low level ability are most impactful, but still has a meaningful impact for those at higher BRs as well.
Secondly, an overhaul or reduction to the Harrier’s heat signature. To date, heat signature of aircraft is provided by the thrust an engine produces this creates a meaningful problem for the Harriers as they have a lot of thrust and they gain thrust at lower air speeds. Such as when defending, this then directly impacts the “Thrust to flare ratio”
To date, this hasnt been resolvable, but the introduction of the F-117 has created a solution, and I would propose the introduction of the F-117s IR reduction code onto the Harriers to bring them in line with other sub-sonic, non-afterburning aircraft such as the Buccaneer
Third and finally, EEGS for the Sea Harrier FRS1. With this update, we have finally seen the introduction of correct HUDS for all 3 SHars nad whilst that is greatly appreciated, its not quite complete. The FRS1e and FRS1 are both missing EEGS. This is currently found on the FA2 and should be a simple matter of bringing it over to the FRS1s. This would be a significant and meaningful buff to the SHars and shouldnt pose any balancing issues given the F-5E has EEGS and is a supersonic gunfighter located at the same/similar BR
I look forward to seeing the Harrier’s finally being given the love they have so long desperately needed and what other changes and improvements anyone else in the community has for them. There other areas I could talk about such as External Fuel tanks, BOL overhaul and missing A2G/A2N weapons for them, but these 3 are the main 3 I feel need addressing ASAP
On a final note and this is relatively minor, please reclass the Sea Harrier FRS1/FRS1e to be naval fighters and not strike fighters. They are not ground attack aircraft like their RAF cousins and were only ever intended for fleet defense, mostly against air threat but also the occasional naval threat. This is of perticular note as the SHars are the ONLY fighter aircraft between the Hunter F6 at 9.7 and the Phantoms at 12.0.
Harriers 2s also got a buff in thrust, still both Harrier 1 and 2 are lacking in thrust and VIFF.
Harrier 1:
Change in alpha shift location to make it more nimble .1 - .05
Increase in Oswald’s efficiency value from .6768 - .7
Increase in VNE
Changed engine temp to throttle rating ratio. as well as thrust amount (still not enough at given value)
Change in Flap deployment at high speed (still needs a visual change and reduction in drag)
Main inaccuracy as of right now for Harrier 1:
At 100% throttle the Harrier 1 should have the thrust as if it was at 110% throttle. (110% is wet IE needs water currently and is wet lift where as the E-M diagram used normal lift dry or 100% throttle in game to get what 110% achieves in game.)
If 100% throttle gets the buff to have the current 110% throttle thrust value and stay at its current temp it would be modeled correctly thrust wise.
Flap deployment values are correct except the ailerons do not droop on the Harrier 1. They also create too much lose in speed.
I just took the GR.3 for a spin on the dev server, from what i can see at 90% throltle (min fuel, no load) its able to rate at between 560-600kmph and starts to accelerate immediately again once you level out.
Best change this update, just need the heat reduction and non-sooty exausts. Thanks to everyone reporting these issues!
100% throttle should be what WEP is now on the DEV server and WEP should be mainly used for heavy vertical takeoffs but can also be used as a warp drive
flap auto retract now will begin from 100% @ 500 km/h IAS instead of 370 km/h IAS until 10% @ 920 km/h IAS instead of 0% @ 611 km/h IAS
rip speed increased from 1191 to 1463 km/h IAS
wing moment arm will now shift less while pulling AoA (resulting in slightly less sharper pull)
wing Oswald’s efficiency number increased from 0.6768 to 0.7
engine throttle mode adjustments:
at 30% throttle: thrust multiplier increased from 0.15 to 0.2 (will result in ~5% increased thrust at this throttle)
50% throttle mode changed to 68% throttle: thrust multiplier increased from 0.6 to 0.68 (will result in overall increase of thrust in 30-68% throttle range)
85% throttle mode changed to 92% throttle: thrust multiplier increased from 0.825 to 0.84
engine water and oil temperatures adjusted, now will generally run a bit colder except at low RPMs (~2100-6700), which should cause less overheating
thrustmax for some nozzles increased by 1000 kgf (from 4000 or 5000), leading to a higher thrust output while thrust vectoring
flap rip speeds adjusted:
20% @ 973 km/h IAS to 10% @ 1111 km/h IAS
32% @ 833 km/h IAS to 926 km/h IAS
Generation 2 harriers :
engine throttle mode adjustments:
at 30% throttle: thrust multiplier increased from 0.15 to 0.2 (will result in ~5% increased thrust at this throttle)
50% throttle mode changed to 75% throttle: thrust multiplier increased from 0.6 to 0.75
85% throttle mode changed to 92% throttle: thrust multiplier increased from 0.825 to 0.92
engine water and oil temperatures adjusted, now will generally run a hotter but also tolerate slightly higher temperatures
thrustmax for some nozzles increased by 1000 kgf (from 4000 or 5000), leading to a higher thrust output while thrust vectoring
Here is the full set of Current changes for the harriers for anyone wanting more specific numbers
The beautiful part about the Harrier now is no matter how hard you turn you have so much thrust you just don’t lose speed.
The combat trials IRL gave the Harrier a successes rate of 7/10 when defending against an attacking MIG-21 below 15,000 feet.
