Art Nalls' Sea Harrier Update 26
Art Nalls has an update on their trip to Gary, Indiana. This is the longest trip taken by the Sea Harrier so far. UPDATE 26
We’re back from Gary, Indiana. Our next show is Rockford, Illinois on the 22nd of August and since there are no gripes on the airplane, we left both airplanes in Gary and drove back to Washington.
Gary was a huge step for us in many respects. First, it was the farthest we’ve ever gone for an airshow. We intended to stay within 300 nautical miles for our first real year on the airshow circuit, but if the money is good enough, we’ll do an airshow on the moon.
I guess that makes us “pilots-ta-tutes.” We’ll fly however you want, for money. Plus, when we’re in the hover, we have no visible means of support…
300 miles is about a day’s drive and equals a single leg in the L-39 with the Sea Harrier in tow. Gary, Indiana is 565 air-miles from home base. It’s quite a drive for the ground crew, towing a support trailer, but we decided to take this opportunity. Once we’re on the road, we need to be as self-sufficient as possible, since Gary, Indiana is not normally known for Harriers.
We have a 24-foot support trailer that can carry our towbar, jacks, hydraulic generator, spare Gas Turbine Starter, brakes, tires, oil and toolbox. We put almost everything that could possibly keep us from operating in that trailer, plus a cooler full of beer. Notice I said “almost everything.” We forgot to take a camera. That’s why there are no photos with this update.
Second, this is the first time we had a real chance to determine cruise performance for the Sea Harrier. Our previous shows were very short legs, but Gary required us to maximize the performance with at least one fuel stop. We’re paying for the fuel for three out of four legs, there and back. It provided us a real opportunity to determine the operating costs for this airplane, and they are eye-watering, to say the least.
Based upon very rough calculations, we determined we could safely make a 300-mile leg, in formation with the L-39. Weather was adequate and we had diverts, but not a lot of options. The first leg was 311 miles. When we made that first fuel stop, the fuel taken on board the SHAR was 573 gallons. I know the engineering minds in all of you are doing the math.
Now that raises some interesting figures. 573 gallons to go 311 miles is a whopping 1.8 gallons PER mile. Think about it. The SHAR (as we have it configured) is a light airplane; Joe was way back on the throttle, and carrying no external stores. We’re doing everything we can to minimize the fuel burn and it’s still 1.8 gallons per mile, and we’re doing a mile every 10 seconds.
To further reduce the fuel consumption, we’ll employ more techniques. We’ll incorporate those for our next cross-country flights, but there’s no getting around the fact that this airplane loves jet fuel. We can’t pour it on the ground as fast as the SHAR burns it.
For comparison - - an Abrams Tank uses 1.2 gallons per mile.
Once in Gary, we performed a ‘teaser’ for a hangar party on Friday night. We did a few photo passes and some basic hover work, but we did add one new hover maneuver. Since Gary is the home of Michael Jackson, I moved the nose of the airplane up and down as I backed up and christened it a ‘moon walk.’ The crowd loved it. I wish we had that camera…
The next day, the show moved over water and off a popular beach, 5 miles from the airport. This was also my first show over water. Airshows over water present additional challenges, since there is no close references for precise hover control. Without those references, it is very easy to begin translations that can develop into unsafe sideslip and possible loss of control. So, we asked that a boat be positioned at the hover point. With a boat as my reference, I did some mild aerobatics; some high-speed passes and over-water hover, including the ‘moon walk.’ The crowd for both Saturday and Sunday was in the hundred thousands on the beach. Gary is a huge crowd, and the weather was beautiful.
Once I accelerated from the hover, I didn’t have a lot of fuel left to travel the 5 miles to the airport, but the weather was fine, the airspace was clear and there were no real problems. I just kept one eye on the fuel gage, one eye on the GPS, and one eye on the outside looking for that stray Cessna. All in all, Gary, Indiana was a success.
The airplane is in fine shape. Our water injection system is now working perfectly, so to conserve engine life, we use water for our hovers whether we actually need it or not. It’s better to have the extra performance and not need it, plus it reduces engine life “counts.”
Engine life for the Harrier is measured by two means - - flight hours and engine “counts.” Engine flight hours are a standard engine life measure used by jets and piston engines alike, but counts are a measure of engine life as a function of temperature. The higher the engine temperature, the higher the number of “counts.”
At high temperatures, the rotating parts of the engine hot section tend to expand and grow under the stress of rotating forces, pressure, and temperature. These forces are accentuated as temperatures increase. At some point, the rotating engine parts will grow too much and no longer be safe, determined in part, by a limiting number of engine counts.
When we reach the limiting number of either counts or flight hours for this particular engine (based upon the individual components that make up this engine) the engine is out of life - - - period. No extensions, no inspections, no waving the magic wands. The engine must be rebuilt.
At our current rate of usage, we have plenty of life left, but we want to conserve both hours and counts to the to maximum extent possible, and water injection helps us to do that. I hope that technical explanation satisfies the inner engineer in all of you.
Our next show is Rockford, Illinois on the 22nd of August. We will be ferrying the airplanes from Gary, Indiana sometime the week prior and hope to see all of you there.
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' Update 23
Art Nalls is back with an update on his Sea Harrier as they head off for their first show this season. We haven’t posted an update in quite a while. To the untrained eye, it may appear that we’ve just been sitting on our duffs, fighting anorexia. Some of us have been VERY successful fighting anorexia…
Actually, we’ve been quite busy. Each year we are required to perform a conditional inspection. One may ask, “How do you operate an airplane that takes 11 months to do a annual inspection?” I guess that’s why they call it an “annual,” because it takes the better part of a year. But we’ve done more than just complete inspections.
We’ve removed the ejection seat for some cockpit modifications in concert with our inspections. The GPS is now located upfront, in a prime location in the instrument panel, just under our primary flight instrument. It’s nearly a glass panel. Here’s a photo of the new and improved cockpit. While we were at it, the team removed about 30 pounds of useless wire bundles. I hope they were useless. They certainly are useless now, on the hangar floor. Remember this airplane was a BAe test bed and a weapons system, so there is lots of wiring that is no longer needed. We also installed an electronic G-meter and stopwatch. Hopefully, with the weather improving, we can complete some touch up painting to make it look as pretty as it flies.
In December, I attended the annual International Council for Airshows convention, known as ICAS. This is where the entire airshow community gathers to end one season, and start planning for next. We had a lot of interest in the Sea Harrier, as you might imagine, despite having only one airshow under our belt. Our goal is for 6-8 airshows this coming year and possibly more, if the airplane is holding up.
In December, I also traveled to Richmond, Virginia to pick up some borescopes that I purchased government surplus. A borescope is an optical device that allows us to look through essentially a soda straw into very tight areas for visual inspection. We use this specifically for examining the internal parts of the main engine and the GTS. We can look right inside them and actually measure the size of nicks or other abnormalities, if there are any.
But while refueling my pickup truck, I began a conversation with another person who just happened to see my military sticker. He was former military, too. It didn’t take long before the conversation turned to airplanes, and of course, the Sea Harrier. He had been in the USAF, and when I mentioned Harriers, he commented that he had the opportunity to work on one, 20 some years ago.
How did a USAF engine mech get the chance to work on a Harrier? Well, he was stationed at Richmond’s Byrd Airfield, just outside of Richmond. It seems a Harrier had a catastrophic engine failure and had to do a dead-stick landing there. They changed the engine over the next week or so, and he worked right along side the Marines. He was one of the dedicated crew.
As many of you know, there’s a story about this in my biography page. I was the pilot of that ill-fated airplane, forced to land engine-out at Richmond. As we exchanged more details, it was clear that he worked on my airplane! What do you think the odds are that two people’s path would cross again after such unusual circumstances? I can’t do the math, but I’m sure it looks like the national debt, to one. I still can’t believe it.
In January, we pulled the girl out of the hangar and started the GTS and main engine, to keep all the systems exercised. Since the seat was absent, I sat on a wooden box. This keeps the hydraulic and electrical systems moving and lubricated. We had one very small gripe with the Hyd 2 system, but that was quickly rectified and no additional problems. We cycled the flaps, flight controls and nozzles and every thing was ready to fly, but since the seat was out, there would be no flying until we put her back together again. Normally, if a Harrier doesn’t leak fluid, it’s out of fluid. In this case though, it’s a relatively clean, tight airplane. There are no puddles under the aircraft, although it has developed a nice, brown patina on the belly - a combination of oil and dirt. We’ll do a wash before we take her out in public.
We had the first flight of the year last weekend. The airplane had been ready to fly for several weeks, with all the inspections complete and all the paperwork signed. All we needed was good weather, which eluded us for several weekends in a row. Finally, last weekend it was a beautiful spring day, so we pulled the SHAR from the hangar and fired her up. The flight was short and sweet, but we had the highway patrol and the local fire department on hand, just in case. All the systems performed perfectly, no discrepancies, and landings equaled takeoffs. We’re ready for the show season.
On another issue, we’re starting the refresher training for Joe Anderson to climb in the cockpit as the second, civilian Harrier pilot rated by the FAA. Joe has been with the team from the very beginning as LSO, and it’s now time for him to start flying as well. His bio is not posted, yet, but he is a retired USMC Major General, test pilot, LSO, with over 2,400 hours of Harrier time. He even flew the AV-8B, before it was the AV-8B. At that time, it was the prototype YAV-8B, with a double row of intake doors (since deleted) and huge flaps, which were retained. He’s even a movie star in one of the most cherished Harrier films of all time, “The Quest for Performance.” I highly recommend it, if you can locate a copy. All the critics have horded them up for their own collections because it’s been known to bring the audience to tears.
Joe has already completed a simulator refresher and did very well. Believe me, we threw everything at him, but he handled everything in stride, just like the professional aviator, he is. He taxied the actual airplane last weekend and you can see by this photo, he’s very happy about this. If all goes well, he’ll have his first refresher flight after the Cherry Point Airshow in May, at Cherry Point. His first flight in Harriers was in 1973. That will be a span of 36 years of flying in the Harrier.
We’re also working to activate the water injection system. We’ve got a small issue with the bottom seal on the jettison switch not quite sealing, but this is minor and should be fixed soon. The system requires distilled or demineralized water, to prevent the crusty buildup in the engine, similar to what you might have in a coffee pot. So we had to clean out the store shelves of their distilled water. Here you can see we have quite a bit, but this is only enough for about half of the tank, which will last 90 seconds in flight. We need to find a wholesale source for this, or we’ll be cleaning all the local stores dry. We don’t actually need water injection for any of the near term shows, but I would like to have that extra cushion of thrust in the summer. It adds about 1000 lbs of thrust.
Our first airshow is already upon us for 2009. This coming weekend, (April 24-26th) we’ll take the Harrier, L-39, and Cub to Langley AFB, VA for their airshow. We’re looking forward to it. Cherry Point’s airshow follows shortly after in May and we’ve got 3 more shows hopefully in June and July. As soon as we firm up those commitments, we’ll post them on the website. We’re already booked at Winston-Salem’s show the 12th and 13th of September.
In the meantime, stay tuned. We’re looking forward to a great year!
Art Nalls : Update 22
Art Nalls is back with a lengthy update and his next public demonstration is at Georgetown, Delaware on Oct. 25.
I had a checkride for a type-rating in the Sea Harrier on the 4th of October. The examiner required me to demonstrate the various takeoffs and landing for VSTOL aircraft, as he was totally unfamiliar with the Harrier, so we discussed the various takeoffs and landings and the appropriate use for each. The examiner was pleased with my flying and granted me the type-rating. I am the first person to have a checkride in the World’s only privately-owned, airworthy Harrier. I was also awarded a Powered-Lift endorsement to that type-rating.
Powered-Lift is a relatively new pilot’s rating, much like rotary wing or seaplane. It specifically applies to an aircraft capable of vertical takeoff, vertical landing, and forward flight with no rotating wings. That describes the Harrier. Although I’m the first to have a checkride and receive the license, I’m apparently not the first with that particular endorsement on a license. I expected to be the first, since my airplane is the ONLY ONE IN THE UNITED STATES THAT SATISFIES THAT REQUIREMENT.
The FAA apparently issued several such endorsements for pilots exiting the Marine Corps, who were current in the Harrier at the time of application. However, they were granted a license for an airplane that did not exist in civilian registry, until my Harrier was certified. Having a license for an airplane that isn’t available is like having a license to fly Santa’s sleigh or a flying saucer. It’s useless. But I applied for the license, took the evaluation flight, and passed. I am the first to do that and appropriately, “POWERED LIFT 01” is posted on the vertical fin.
The very next day, which was a Sunday, ABC News wanted us to fly. We agreed. They had News Chopper 7 on the scene to record airborne footage of a hover and a simple pedal turn. We coordinated the flight with the chopper. The airplane and the team performed perfectly. However, due to technical difficulty Chopper 7 was unable to get the footage they desired. There is video from the ground of this flight posted on You Tube and here’s a link. This was my second hover in 16 years and my first pedal turn in as many.
Our first airshow was already scheduled at a nearby airfield for the following weekend. This would be the perfect opportunity for Chopper 7 met us at our arrival and duplicate the airborne footage they missed the previous week. The footage shows a decel to the hover and a simple pedal turn, but the angle of filming from a helicopter yielded spectacular footage, especially with all the Fall foliage. Unfortunately, it belongs to ABC. The segment will air sometime in November and likely use some of that footage. I can’t have a copy, but the footage inspired me to attempt a duplicate it with a private helicopter and a photographer - - it’s that good.
Our first airshow was at Culpeper, Virginia on the 11th of October. Culpeper is a small, hometown airfield only 62 miles from our home base. It’s the ideal site for a first show, since it’s close. 12 minutes by Harrier, 2 hours and 30 minutes by truck - - and that’s going SLOW by Harrier standards and fast by the legal speed limit. Rich Gill is known as “NASCAR Gill.” Besides, his son is a patrolman…
I opened the show at Culpeper with the L-39 Albatross and my usual routine. At the end of the normal airshow, the crowd lines were moved, per FAA requirements, and
we began the Harrier demo as the closing act. By that time, the airfield was filled to capacity, and the State Police had blocked all access to the airfield. There simply was no more parking available anywhere on the airfield and several hundred cars were turned away. They were all there to see the Harrier!
As we towed the airplane to the taxiway for a start, you could have heard a pin drop. No one was talking, going to buy a drink, or visiting the john. Every single eye was on us. We started the Gas Turbine Starter (GTS) with Christian Vlahos standing on the wing, fire extinguisher in hand. With the GTS, one never knows what will happen. It could just as easily start as explode, both of which are normal. Either way, it’s pretty spectacular. When the start was successful, he scampered down the wing and the rest of the crew began final checks.
With those complete and after a snappy salute from the ground crew, I taxied to the runway, with a Paddles truck in tow. “Paddles” is slang for the Landing Signal Officer (LSO) vehicle and it’s the same procedure we use in the fleet for shipboard landing practice. Before radios were common, LSO’s actually used hand paddles to communicate with the pilot. Having two-way radio communication has been our standard operating procedure from the beginning, and we’ll continue that. The LSO is looking for anything unusual and I am communicating my checklists to him. For this round, we had two LSO’s. The second LSO was my old squadron mate - Colonel Rusty Jones (ret), along with Joe Anderson, who’s been the LSO from the very first flight. We were all squadron mates when we were young, trim Marines. Now we’re much older and wiser, but it’s great to have familiar voices on the radio - -just in case.
Takeoff checks complete, I slammed the throttle and performed a Short Takeoff. In just about 400 feet, the airplane leaped into the air and climbed away smartly. Since I don’t yet have an aerobatic rating in this airplane (I already have those ratings in the L-39), this demo was limited to a few passes, doing what a Harrier does best - hovering and short takeoffs and slow landings. I performed a few photo passes and then a high-speed pass. I attempted to reach 500 knots on this pass, and will disclose the reason for that later.
I actually achieved 537 knots (618 mph) at only 85% rpm. The Pegasus wasn’t even breaking a sweat! The top speed is quoted at 650 knots and I am confident that it will reach that under the proper circumstances. For this airshow, 500 knots was sufficient.
I then took two full turns to slow to landing gear speed and began a decelerating transition to a hover. The airplane was performing absolutely perfectly. The hover was stable, the engine temperatures were quite low and I was able to play around a bit in the hover. I did a pedal turn, a figure 8, and a bow to the crowd. With those complete, I raised the landing gear and accelerated to wing-borne flight.
I then returned for a Rolling Vertical Landing and that was it. The first demo was complete. I seriously contemplated another go around the pattern, but for another of our cardinal rules. If it isn’t on the card and we didn’t brief the maneuver, we won’t do it.
I had a specific reason for wanting to reach 500 knots. I flew from zero to 537 knots and that gives us one of the widest operating envelopes for any airplane on the airshow circuit, including the modern jets. We can actually increase that margin with a higher top speed and BACKWARDS maneuvers, up to 30 knots to further widen the gap. We aim to have the highest overall margin since we’re over 100 knots faster than the AV-8B. Those tiny little wings and small pylons have very low drag.
But there was another surprise. After the show and the crowd began to dissipate, I gathered the crew. Hidden in the airplane were two bottles of high-grade Scotch whiskey. I won’t say the name because they aren’t paying me, but it was fine whiskey. Not the low-grade rot-gut I grew up on as a Lieutenant, but excellent stuff. It is one of my personal favorites. If they PAY me as a sponsor, it will BE my favorite.
We all signed one of the bottles and certified that it had indeed been aboard the airplane for the first, public debut flight and had officially been from 537 knots to ZERO knots at 100 feet. That should make it taste better, since the Scotch molecules have been scared into submission. I know for a fact that this is NOT the first time whiskey has been a stowaway aboard a Harrier, so there’s no “first” there. But this was a historic flight and we wanted to celebrate, especially since we were all thirsty and a large majority of us were sober. As a team, we consumed one of the bottles. The other bottle that made the flight is escrowed for the appropriate occasion, along with the flight card I carried in flight.
The first airshow is history and we filled the airport to capacity. I personally met people from as far away as New Jersey and Florida, and who knows those that were turned away. I signed autographs for a couple of hours and we haven’t stopped smiling for two days.
The official model designation for the Sea Harrier is FA.2, but we may need to change it to FN 2. That’s what everyone was calling in anyway.
Art Nalls passed civilian checkride for Sea Harrier
From Art Nalls : I successfully submitted and passed the first civilian checkride in a VSTOL aircraft and recevied the type rating plus a Powered Lift endorsement.
Art Nalls : Sea Harrier flew again this weekend
Art Nalls is back flying his Sea Harrier, report after the jump. We worked on the minor discrepencies on Saturday and set up for a flight on Sunday, after the local church services were over. We're trying to be good neighbors with such a loud machine.
On schedule, we rolled her out, cleaned the canopy, and I strapped in. The takeoff was perfect, using only partial power and then the moment of truth - - - I cycled the landing gear. (insert spine-tingling music here)
You might not think that such an operation would generate so much stress and anxiety, but it did. Our last troubles were all because of this simple operation, or lack of it. Four up and locked, four down and locked, four up and locked and I headed for the aerobatic working area.
I performed a few, basic aerobatic maneuvers as required by our operating limitations. All were complete and without any adverse qualities. A very impressive machine.
I returned to the airfield for a 78-knot landing, exercising the nozzle speed trim - also an impressive device. I turned off mid-field easily.
The type-rating check ride is scheduled for next weekend.
Art Nalls' Sea Harrier photos
Dave "HeyJoe" Parsons was at Art Nalls hangar last week and he was kind enough to share his photos with us. (Photo Credit : Dave Parsons)
Art Nalls' Update 19
Art is back with an update on his Sea Harrier. The hydraulic lines have been replaced and the HUD is replaced with a civilian Electronic Flight Information System as well. The biggest news is that Art has obtained a GR-3 as well to be used for cannibalizing spare parts. However Art intends to restore the plane back flying as an AV-8A if possible.
Flying Back in Time, In His Own Warplane
Art Nalls and his Sea Harrier jump jet is in the news again. This time Washington Post decides to run a story on his ongoing attempt to bring the jet back to service.
Art Nalls' Updates
Art Nalls has kindly added us to his mailing list and from now on we will be posting his updates here. UPDATE 16 – 15 November, 2007
You may have noticed that the video of the emergency landing and the photos of the prone Sea Harrier have been removed. I’ve been a bad, bad puddy tat. In the hast of getting the video and photos to the web, I neglected the huge, 4 foot by 8 foot sign at the entrance to the naval base stating “Photography Prohibited aboard this Installation.” I didn’t think they meant me.
It was an honest mistake, so we removed all the video and stills and have submitted them to the appropriate authorities for release approval. I hope to have an answer within the next few days. I don’t believe any harm was done beyond failing to get permission. I just couldn’t read the sign traveling at 350 knots, with a HYD 1 light flashing in my eyes.
We’ve taken the past couple of days to recount the events, document our lessons learned, and determine the way forward. Obviously, we need to recover the aircraft to the hangar and fully assess the damage, but it does not appear serious. Parts are on order from the UK and most of them will be bolt-off / bolt-on. A few minor metal pieces will be repaired and we’ll start our ground testing anew to insure that we haven’t damaged the engine or any other systems. The single most time-consuming element may be the export approval process from the UK for the components so we’re starting that immediately.
Our plan is to tow the airplane, intact, from NAS Patuxent River to St. Mary’s airport, 8 miles away. The road is certainly wide enough, there are no obstacles and the permit process is in work. Much larger loads have been moved over these same roads. We will provide pictures of that trek and maybe a few surprises. Our little minds have been working overtime during this, and humor seems to be an outlet for the financial pain sure to come.
I’m attaching comments from the other team member’s perspective for these first flights. The first is from Joe Anderson as the Landing Signal Officer (LSO), who is the ground observer for all takeoffs and landings. LSO’s are used aboard ship and we determined early in our process that an LSO was absolutely essential to flight safety for our operation, at least in the early stages of flight test.
Joe, is a retired Marine Corps Major General (2-stars for those who go by stars), a former Harrier Test Pilot, and a helluva good pilot. He is recently type-rated in the L-39 jet aircraft and will be the second to fly the Sea Harrier. He and I have known each other for nearly 30 years and I’m extremely fortunate to have him join the team. I could think of no one more qualified to act as LSO.
Anyway, here are his comments:
Saturday’s brief was thorough and professional. We collectively came to the conclusion to stay gear down and minimize workload. We also wanted to minimize distractions and it was determined that Chase would make the radio broadcasts and assist in the lookout tasks. This was very useful as the SHAR experienced what sounded to the LSO to be stuck mike on transmit. The appropriate decision to make one full stop roll on landing relying primarily on aerodynamic flight controls worked well. On both flights, we agreed that any serious emergency was best handled with a divert to NAS Patuxent River with its longer multiple runways, VSTOL pad and 24/7 crash crew. On the Sunday flight, Art personally interacted with the Hollywood Volunteer Fire Department and actually postponed launch until they arrived. Shortly after takeoff, I heard chatter about Hydraulic fluctuations on the HYD 1 system. I pulled out my checklist to the same page as the chase observer and listened to the challenges and responses. I then grabbed the 2 maintenance personnel and headed to the base. My fear was that we would be delayed at the gate but we were fortunate. We arrived at the base of the tower and I saw plenty of good concrete and wanted to land the aircraft right next to the crash crew. The tower preferred the newly built Joint Strike Fighter pad (with its fluted grating). This turned out to be ideal and the SHAR started to decell to the pad. I stayed in the truck in order to remain capable of calling out corrections to the pilot who was clearly going to be required to hover well before we planned it. It was unnecessary as the pilot performed a steady and flawless deceleration to a hover over the pad. I got out and checked him out and he appeared to have all his landing gear down and locked. His landing light was on which we had all been misinformed for years as an indication of gear down and locked. After a very smooth and gentle touchdown, the starboard outrigger and nosegear abruptly collapsed and Art immediately shut the aircraft down, safetied his ejection seat and exited the aircraft. In my opinion, his superior aviation skill and calm demeanor probably kept the cockpit intact and prevented serious injury.
First Civilian Sea Harrier FA/2 flight
Art Nalls, owner of a former Royal Navy Sea Harrier FA/2 has taken his plane on its first flight after restoration on Nov. 10. Warning, you need quicksucktimes to view it.
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