A Photo and Its Story

Fascinating pictures and the story behind them

An Airbus A380 requires at least 9,500 feet of runway to allow for sufficient acceleration in order to take off. In contrast, a conventional fighter plane on an aircraft carrier needs 500 feet for takeoff. These jets are accelerated by a catapult system that is embedded in the runway. During the start-up phase, which accelerates the jet from 0 to 165 miles per hour in 2 seconds, the body of the pilot experiences up to 9 g. But the space requirement can get even shorter: The Hawker Siddeley Harrier is a jump jet and needs exactly 0 feet of runway to take off or land. Reason: It takes off vertically. But how does that work? For a vertical takeoff, the thrust of the four vectoring nozzles is directed downward by 90 degrees. This is done by way of a lever that’s operated by the pilot. The tilted nozzles give the approximately 45-foot-long aircraft the power it needs to take off in a vertical orientation. At the same time, the pilot must press the throttle lever down to the maximum when the Harrier lifts off the ground. When the jet has reached the desired height, the pilot lets up on the throttle and simultaneously turns the nozzles backwards for horizontal flight. Vertical takeoff and vertical landing circumvents the risks of conventional takeoff and landing maneuvers aboard aircraft carriers. In the military sector, Harrier models are among the few vertically launched jet aircraft used in practice. They are used, among other applications, by the U.S. Marine Corps as well as the UK’S Royal Air Force. The one-man jet can reach speeds of up to 764 miles per hour and can carry up to 8,000 pounds of external armament, i.e., guns, missiles, and bombs. An empty Harrier weighs “only” about 12,000 pounds.