Hi Mathieu !
I completely agree with you about the right to criticize. I think that the debate that would be led about this add-on is killed by the people that think that each question is a dishonnest agression and, on the other hand, by the opposite people that use the same question as an opportunity to promote the Harrier they like.
But I don't think that someone here wrote that VTOL was impossible to implement. On the contrary, Razbam have make an attempt to implement it on a most convincing manner than in the other add-ons, and I think it's impossible to say now that he doesn't succeed : it needs a deeper analyse that what we've had here. But on this particular point, this Harriers hovers. The fact that it is most challenging than with other Harriers is, IMHO, a good point. And it's more rewarding if you succeed.
This video is by Razbam himself and will show you what is, imo, the most honest representation of the VTOL ability of his Harrier. And the people that will tell you that it requires very particular skills are mostly overestimating themselves, it has taken me one or two hours doing the same on The Clemenceau, which is smaller and slower, the main difficulty being to make a new start after every crash (the most time consuming problem is to make a fuel load to be light enough, I think a good idea would be to include a kind of “vertical landing practice payload” on the load manager).
As you may have seen, I've questions about the fact that the patch have adressed all the issues, especially on the transition between level flight and vertical flight, and I've other questions about choices made for the implementation of VTOL, which sometimes gives a robotic feeling. You can see partially those problems in the video too : the overcompensation, and some movements that seems too "mechanical" to me. I wonder myself if some behaviors are normal, especially when hovering (considering that my question about spin had finally received an answer that I find acceptable) But that doesn't mean that it is impossible to fly, or that there are other Harriers that are definitely better. My own opinion is that this Harrier is the most satisfying I've had to date, since the patch, of course : the fact is that I've had more fun flying and trying to handle it, than with some past planes I bought that I could hover in 5 minutes, with full load...
