Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!ukma!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!att!cbnews!military
From: convex!gray@uxc.cso.uiuc.edu (Ron Gray)
Newsgroups: sci.military
Subject: viffing
Message-ID: <7859@cbnews.ATT.COM>
Date: 29 Jun 89 03:45:24 GMT
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From: convex!gray@uxc.cso.uiuc.edu (Ron Gray)

>
>"VIFFing" is Vectoring In Forward Flight.  It was invented some years
>earlier, by the USMC Harrier pilots I believe.
>
>                                     Henry Spencer at U of Toronto Zoology
>                                 uunet!attcan!utzoo!henry henry@zoo.toronto.edu


VIFFing is indeed Vectoring in Forward Flight, however early Viffing 
experiments were performed by the British Hawker-Siddeley Test Pilot 
Hugh Merewether in the Hawker-Siddeley Harrier GR Mark 1 prototype XV276. 
(First Flight of XV276 was 31st August 1966).

The first American attempts at Viffing were not by the US Marine Corps,
but by NASA on January 16th 1970, using an aircraft designated NASA 521
(previous designation being 64-18263; prior designation being being 
Hawker Siddeley Kestrel FGA Mark 1 XS689) 

(Background information on the Harrier: Two prototypes of the Hawker-Siddeley
 P1127 were ordered by the Ministry of Aviation in 1959. The first two 
 prototypes were designated XP831 and XP836. Rollout of the XP831 was 
 accomplished on August 31st 1960. Tethered hovering trials began on 
 October 21st 1960 at Dunsfield, UK. Flown by A.W.Bedford.
 The first untethered hover took place on November 19th 1963, and the first
 conventional flight, lasting 22 minutes, was also flown by A.W.Bedford on
 March 13th 1961).


 Ronald W Gray, 
 Convex Computer Corp , 
 3000 Waterview Parkway, P.O. Box 833851
 MS ADM, Richardson, TX 75083-3851   Tel (214) 497-4000 

 (The opinions expressed herein are those of the author only)

 "Qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum."   
 Let him who desires peace, prepare for war.