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Article: Harrier's Kestrel: ancestor flew in USAF markings at Edward Air Force Base.(United States Air Force)
- Article from:
- Airpower
- Article date:
- July 1, 2004
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2004 Republic Press, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Years before the AV-8A and AV-8B versions of the Harrier became symbols of U.S. Marine Corps airpower, an early British development, the Hawker (later Hawker Siddeley) P.1127, caught the attention of American researchers.
The P.1127 idea was horn in 1956, and design work began the next year as a private venture under the leadership of Sir Sydney Carom. The P.1127 blazed trails as the first airplane to incorporate a turbofan engine with vectored thrust, and as the first vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) airframe intended from the start as a fighter and ground attack machine, Central to the P.1127's success was the Bristol Sidd01ey B8.53 (later called Pegasus) ...