Hawker Siddeley P.1127 Hawker Siddeley P.1127 The Hawker P.1127 and the Hawker Siddeley Kestrel FGA.1 are the experimental and development aircraft that led to the Hawker Siddeley Harrier, the first "vertical and/or short take-off and landing" (V/STOL) jet fighter-bomber. P.1127 development began in 1957, taking advantage of the Bristol Engine Company's choice to invest in the creation of the Pegasus vectored-thrust engine. Testing began in July 1960 and by the end of the year the aircraft had achieved both vertical take-off and horizontal flight. The test program also explored the possibility of use upon aircraft carriers, landing on in 1963. The first three
Lift jet it is dead weight in flight, and together with the aircraft's internal weapons bays it takes up a great deal of internal space, reducing fuel and avionics load and requiring a bulkier and wider fuselage cross-section (which passes on to the A and C versions, even though they don't have a fan or V/STOL capability). It has, however, in pre-operational testing proven the ability to take off vertically and go supersonic in level flight in the same mission, a first for a combat aircraft. Lift jet A lift jet is a jet engine angled to provide an aircraft with "aerostatic"