Mike Pryce
@mikepryce.bsky.social
42 followers 30 following 27 posts
Writing a book jump jets and digital tech. Pre-order at https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/468411/jump-jet-by-pryce-michael/9780241738078
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mikepryce.bsky.social
You can now pre-order my book, Jump Jet: The Secret History of the Harrier, out July 2026.

Short version: Digital is not enough to make a jump jet. You need exceptional people.

penguin.co.uk/books/468411...

From V-1s in 1944 to the #F35 in 2008, it's a big story, never told before.
A plenum chamber burning engine test Harrier
Reposted by Mike Pryce
raestimr.bsky.social
"Such a [tech demonstrator] may be particularly important with stealth... Stealth is conceptually straightforward but it makes everything else bloody difficult." How the UK's new Flying Combat Air Demonstrator will de-risk #GCAP #avgeek #Tempest ow.ly/ZbjY50Wt6ww
mikepryce.bsky.social
"He was Icarus, for sure. But when it mattered, boy did he fly."

www.theguardian.com/music/2025/j...
Sly Stone flying on wings of funk
mikepryce.bsky.social
Lovely to be quoted in this article.
shashj.bsky.social
I wrote this week on the various next-generation fighter jet programmes under way around the world, and why they all seem to be aiming for huge stealthy aircraft with epic range and payload—and epic price tags to match. www.economist.com/science-and-...
The race to build the fighter planes of the future
They can hold more fuel, carry more weaponry and boast more computing power
www.economist.com
Reposted by Mike Pryce
gralefrit.bsky.social
That one of the characters in Andor goes on to be in Return of the Jedi shows what a weird project it is. Like watching There Will Be Blood and realising the lead character becomes the Fat Controller in Thomas The Tank Engine.

Adult origin stories for kids’ movies are a strange commercial impulse.
Reposted by Mike Pryce
seaharrier.bsky.social
1. And probably of operating an older aircraft design, though if I remember right the SHar /was/ still better than the GR.1/GR.3 when it came to SAS etc.

Either way, amusing that they included the Typhoon.

Bonus image, T.4N/T.8 not having the best of times:
Reposted by Mike Pryce
seaharrier.bsky.social
Comparing the SHar to the GR.7/GR.9, this gives a pretty decent illustration of the increased danger that comes from naval operations[1], I /assume/ the 80-84 4.41 is from the Falklands War though.

Alternatively, the take away from this is that the RAF should not have been trusted with the Jaguar.
Chart of the damage rates per ten thousand flying hours of the various fixed wing fighter aircraft in service in the UK during 2005.

Source: https://web.archive.org/web/20061009072302/http://www.dasa.mod.uk/natstats/accidents/accdam/acctab2.html
Reposted by Mike Pryce
elanhead.com
Most people think of helicopter rotorwash as a steady flow, but it's actually quite unsteady, as this cool animation from a new UK CAA study shows: youtu.be/YHIIL-AQ6ZI

For @theaircurrent.com, I wrote about the study's implications for the eVTOL industry: theaircurrent.com/feed/dispatc...
Outwash Flow Field - 3D View
YouTube video by Sophrodyne Aerospace
youtu.be
mikepryce.bsky.social
TSR2. Was it an eagle or a turkey?
TSR2 aeroplane
mikepryce.bsky.social
Sixty years ago today the TSR2 was cancelled.

Was it the turkey we all say it is now? Or was it really as great as the hype?

My talk @rafmuseum.bsky.social Cosford youtu.be/6yOwK_Uvwek?...
TSR-2: A Warning for Tempest? By Dr Michael Pryce MRAeS
YouTube video by Royal Aeronautical Society
youtu.be
Reposted by Mike Pryce
raestimr.bsky.social
A Jetsons-style future envisages #eVTOL air taxis picking up passengers like Ubers. But what about the turbulent downwash? A CAA study aims to improve safety #avgeek #rotorcraft ow.ly/GF4E50Vuv4U
Reposted by Mike Pryce
raestimr.bsky.social
Blown away - new tools make potentially fatal downwash at heliports and vertiports visible #avgeek #eVTOL #helicopters #airports ow.ly/EFPH50VuvJp
Reposted by Mike Pryce
raestimr.bsky.social
MUST READ for anyone building #eVTOL and #AAM vertiports - how next-gen modelling and simulation makes complex rotary downwash visible #avgeek www.aerosociety.com/news/an-ill-...
mikepryce.bsky.social
We used the Navier-Stokes equations to 'see the air' and make the future of flight safer

You can see the air too, in the video in this article bsky.app/profile/raes...
raestimr.bsky.social
New content on Aerosociety! 'An ill wind - making helicopter and #eVTOL downwash visible' #avgeek #safety #rotorcraft www.aerosociety.com/news/an-ill-...
Reposted by Mike Pryce
raestimr.bsky.social
New content on Aerosociety! 'An ill wind - making helicopter and #eVTOL downwash visible' #avgeek #safety #rotorcraft www.aerosociety.com/news/an-ill-...
mikepryce.bsky.social
Having worked for NPS and with DAU I can vouch for the depth of their work. Lots to lose if rumours are true.
mikepryce.bsky.social
Great to see this getting the attention it deserves, and a sensible take from @elanhead. No one has innovated air, so understanding what it does matters.

Talk of hurricanes is dramatic but does not really help understanding.
mikepryce.bsky.social
Sixty years ago today Britain cancelled its supersonic jump jet.

A great loss? We got the Harrier instead. My talk from 2012:
www.aerosociety.com/news/audio-c...
Drawings and a model of the Hawker Siddeley P1154 supersonic jump jet
Reposted by Mike Pryce
jdkightly.bsky.social
Vale Roy Huxley, artist. Best known for his excellent, evocative Matchbox model box artwork, he did a lot more. His legacy well documented by publisher Wing Leader, but sad we don't have the man himself 'in command' any more.

www.facebook.com/share/p/1BAw...
An artwork for the Supermarine Walrus kit from Matchnbox by Roy Huxley. Shows the aircraft taking off over a still harbourt at dusk. Very red-orange background.
mikepryce.bsky.social
Having your work quoted by The Woracle (HS Kingston, Flight, AvWeek) is very cool!

The CAA report mentioned is here www.caa.co.uk/our-work/pub... with another, CAP 3075, out soon.