Art Nalls : Sea Harrier at Langley
Art Nalls and his Sea Harrier performed at Langley recently for the "Airpower over Hampton" airshow.
UPDATE 24
The Langley AFB, VA “Airpower over Hampton” airshow was a blast! - - - (furnace, that is)
We arrived Thursday afternoon and the temperatures were already approaching record numbers. The forecasts for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday were to break records. We went right from spring, past summer, to Hell.
Friday is usually a practice day and we needed that time to complete an aerobatic flight rating, plus hover performance checks to validate engine performance. With the Harrier, each individual engine is “blueprinted” so we know exactly how much thrust it is generating. We do this in a performance hover. Knowing aircraft weight, we can map our engine compared to a “nominal” engine.
So our routine included the requirements for the aerobatics check, followed by three performance hovers. Fortunately, the temperatures were only in the upper 80’s but Saturday and Sunday would be much worse.
Joe and I reduced the performance data and verified that our engine is indeed a Super Star! All three hovers had a very tight grouping of the numbers (obviously due to superior, smooth pilot technique) and allowed us to more accurately compute the real hover performance. We did this by taking the operational data manuals and designing a computer program on a laptop. This is similar to the way the fleet calculates their performance, but we’re actually much simpler, since we have only one airplane in one configuration. Pretty simple, really. All the formulas are calculated in Excel and we only need to input temperature and field barometric pressure. The program then gives us a fuel and water weight for hover at that given outside air temperature. (Sorry for the physics lesson, but this is a frequently asked question)
With that done and no gripes on the airplane, we calculated the Saturday hover performance. The forecast temperatures were to be in the upper 80’s-low 90’s. As luck would have it, we were flying right after the F-22 Raptor and just before the Thunderbirds. This is PRIME airshow flight time! It’s also the hottest part of the day and VSTOL airplanes need thrust to hover. To borrow a line from the U.S. Army, we were “being all we can be” to do a VSTOL demo.
We did the usual high-speed passes, the photo passes then began the decelerating transition to the hover. Once in the hover, the engine temps were near the limit, so maneuvering was very minimal. We were right on the predicted limit, which validates our model. Even though we were operating at the limits, we did face the crowd and do a bow to the crowd. A photo shows the nose down attitude and it’s not a photo shop! The bow is quite dramatic at 100 feet above the ground. . The photo is one thing, but the real airplane maneuver can be inspiring. It literally brought the crowd to its feet, cheering and waving their arms!
Sunday was a near duplicate of Saturday, except the temperatures were hotter and therefore our performance margins were further reduced, but we did hover and performed two accelerating and decelerating transitions. Comments from the crowd were very favorable and they certainly appreciated the difficulty of performing under these conditions, due to the expert announcing from Rob Reider. Thanks, Rob. You did us well.
The airplanes are now in the barn, safe, and secure. Before our next show, there are some things we want to fix. We want to activate the water injection system, which gives us about 1000 lbs of extra thrust on hot days. We only need one small part and we’re working on it. We also need to ballast the airplane, to compensate for the added 500 pounds of water. Water goes in the back, and we need ballast in the nose. That’s in work, too.
We also wanted to get the paint repaired. After several flights, bumps, scratches, etc, the nose looks a little shabby. We’re working on that as well.
For those who have questioned the Breast Cancer Awareness banner on the web site, breast cancer testing and treatments are one of our chosen charities. Accordingly, we sponsored the Great Mills High School Boys Lacrosse team for one of their home games. A photo of the team presentation is attached. Also, Rich Gill, one of our ACE mechanics, is the assistant coach. This money goes directly to the local community to assist in exams for those who might not be able to afford it. Early detection and treatment are the keys, here, so those at risk will be able to get examined. The team has offered to assist with this, but we’ll leave it to those with the real qualifications.
We will continue to help this vital charity as much as we can. I had a friend, long-time wife of my Academy roommate, who unfortunately lost her battle with breast cancer. This is personal for me.
We will also support Smile Train for the Cherry Point airshow by posting their banner on our vertical fin. I’ll have more on this in the next update, but all of you please check out the Smile Train website and see the wonderful work these dedicated professionals provide all over the world. We are happy to support them, as well.
Cherry Point is only a few days away, and we hope that you can all come see us in person. After the show on Saturday, Joe Anderson will get his turn at the controls. He’s chomping at the bit for his turn and all we need is good weather - - and cool temperatures!
Art Nalls
Labels: Art Nalls
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