PhillipText BoxBAe/McDonnell Douglas Harrier by Andy Evans | CROWOOD AVIATION SERIES 1998 ...Flying the F/A.2 with LCDR David Baddams-As I once said to an interested RAF flyer. it's much better to 'stop' and then 'land', rather than 'land' and then try to 'stop'!' 'To get involved in a "furball"in the FRS.1 & engaging the "enemy" with AIM-9s could be well compared to having a knife fight in a tele-phone box', explains Lt Cdr David Baddams. Senior Pilot of No.899 Squadron at RNAS Yeovilton, 'with the F/A.2, however, we can now fight BVR, getting in close only if neccessary we believe we now have the best and most compact air defence aircraft in Europe.' The Sea Harrier pilot community is relatively small, with only fifty in total, just over half actually serving in flying posts; the numbers break down into ten each with Nos. 800 and 801 and four-teen with No.899. 'The SHAR2 is makes us perhaps the "meanest new kids on the block", continues Baddams. 'and when we come up against aircraft belonging to our allies in DACT sorties, we offer more than a few surprises, and even when pitted against AMRAAM-armed American aircraft, they know what they're going to get in advance. The aircraft is not designed to be a dogfighter; we do not have the low wing loading of an F-16 or F-18, but we can mix it if neccessary. VIFFing gives us some advantages, but it's really a last ditch effort, as what we might gain in positioning we sacrifice in energy, so we excel at being able to hold people off at a distance without getting close in.' 'On a conventional runway the first thing that anyone new to theF/A.2 always comments on is the massive acceleration. The engine is run to full power, the STO stop set to 50 degrees, brakes off and the 'g' pushes you into the seat. At 120 kts the nozzle lever is snapped smart-ly back to the STO stop and the Harrier leaps into the air. We then "collect" the aircraft, and make sure the yaw vane is straight, and its nozzles aft, gear up and away. Aboard ship we use the ski jump to allow us a greater take off weight, using a type of "ballistic lob" to aid us to wingborne flight.' 'Despite the fact that the F/A.2 is a tremendously flexible aircraft - in fact, we can undertake any mission once airborne fighter, bomber or recce we are basically a day-only bomber, with no night capacity, however. In the past it was always the Sea Harrier's role to be a "stop-per", but now we are more the "shooter", and the Royal Navy has in the new seaborne Harrier a terrific asset.'...

PhillipText BoxAn ex-Royal Australian Navy Skyhawk pilot, David was on the last cruise of the Melbourne be-fore its retirement.Plans to buy HMS Invincible for the RAN disappeared after the Falklands and David found himself redundant at the age of 23. He applied to transfer to the Royal Navy in 1984 and was accepted, going on to fly the Sea Harrier FRS.1, and latterly theF/A.2. He was appointed Senior Pilot of No.800 Squadron in 1992 before moving to the Standards Squadron in 1993 and is current-ly Senior Pilot with No.899 Squadron. A keen student of things vintage, David also flies the Hawker Sea Hawk of the Navy's Historic Flight.Photo fromAndy Evans

PhillipText BoxLt Cdr David Baddamsclimbs aboard oneof 899NAs's F/A.2.s.