After making a bug report about the turn performance of the 1st generation harriers they closed the issue as not a but. They stated that “All FM testing must be completed in FRC using accurate weight.” So I went ahead and with some help, figured out how to open the web live mapping and used the harrier gr3 as the test bed. The stat card from the war thunder wiki lists the Harrier Gr3 at 5918kg with about 27 mins of fuel you are at a total of around 7800 Kg the tests conducted by the USMC NAVAIR flight manual where at 17090 or close to 7750kg with 2 sidewinders and 2 gun pods. With my test I managed to get this weight as near close as possible. My first turn starts at a weight of 7774kg or 17138.7 lbs only 40 lbs over the USMC test. I bank left and pull full stick back to achieve only 6.63g at right around 460knots and the AOA never even going over 18 degrees all the way down at the end of the turn at 300knots.
By referencing the V-N diagram of the USMC test at 460knots at max load factor or full pull back you’ll pull right up to 21 degrees aoa and at that 460 knot speed you should meet 7g almost even. If you put this value in the Rate chart you get 17.5 degrees a second instantaneous turn rate for 460 knots and 7g of overload.
Coming to my final point if you bank the gr 3 at max pull and let it settle at a speed using 90% throttle you will maintain close to 300knots in a level circle. 300 knots at a max load factor on the graph is 3.4-3.5g take these values to the rate chart and plug them in the Harrier should be sustaining a turn of 12.5-13 degrees a second. Ill settle with the 12.5 that gives you sustained turn performance of 28.8 seconds not 32 big difference. So yes if I’m incorrect or missed anything please feel free to point it out.
Edit: Down below AlvisWisla conducted a test sustaining 300 knots in a max rate turn to only get about 10.8-10.9 degrees a second. With the values they gathered 300 knots and 3.3g sustained the Harrier should be turning at a rate of around 12-12.5 degrees according to the USMC turn rate chart.
Further edit: With more reading I found that all tests of the AV-8A where conducted at the Max continuous thrust rating. That value is 58.7Kn static. This means the harrier was able to go as fast as it can in game with 1/3 less thrust then what it needs in game to achieve the same speed. Top speed listed is .915 Mach at sea level with only 58.7 Kn thrust static. Compare that to the Harrier needing about 100% throttle to match this in game. The Harriers thrust in game is 9,071 KGF stationary almost 91Kn thats a 32 Kn difference in thrust to meet the same speed.
The NASA Testbed Trainer Harrier
In 1978 NASA used an onld TAV-8 2 seat trainer harrier to conduct research on V/STOL flight and in that report is some very useful information that further supports my claim. According to NASAs own claim on the Buffet Onset Turn Performance chart the bigger, heavier, and less streamlined 2 seat trainer harrier is sustaining turns inside the radius of .42 Nautical miles (around 2550 feet) and at .55 Mach is achieving a turn rate in excess of 12 degrees per second. This means the two seat Harrier is turning inside of a F-14B albeit with a slightly slower rate of around 12.25 degrees per second. This harrier model is limited to less then 7g of overload compared to the normal harriers limit of 7.8g.
link to bug report: 1st Gen harriers FM is incorrect // Gaijin.net // Issues
NASA Photos
