Interesting plane
- Thread starter MMDad
- Start date
Jeff
Stop Staring!!!!!
It already came down in the Middle of PAX Sunday.. Did you open the link?????
NALLS AVIATION.COM HOME OF THE SEA HARRIER FA/2
desertrat
0_0
Yes, they used to crash a lot out at MCAS ******. They're hard to fly.
Jeff
Stop Staring!!!!!
Article said something about a Hydraulics Indication..
ServiceGuy
New Member
The story I am getting is that the plane (Harrier) had a controlled crash (emergency landing) on PAX this past weekend. Not sure of all the details however the alleged owner is a Ret Marine Pilot and I was told the military is holding the aircraft for the time being anyway.
OldHillcrestGuy
Well-Known Member
I was sitting at the light at 235 and 4 coming from Solomons on Saturday around 145pm and saw this thing coming like it was flying out St Andrews Chruch Rd. coming towards me with this little plane close by, my thought was this little plane had flown into a no fly-zone and was being chased back to St Mary's Airport. 
I also hope their fun and experiment with plane doesn't bring it down on someones house, school or commerical area with lots of people around. Get it out over the Bay or the Paxtuent to test it.
I also hope their fun and experiment with plane doesn't bring it down on someones house, school or commerical area with lots of people around. Get it out over the Bay or the Paxtuent to test it.
desertrat
0_0
Yep. Well maintained aircraft.
They are cool to watch doing their vertical landings, though.
Once I had to do a double take when I saw two ground crew up on top of one pouring water from a 5 gallon bottle into a hole in the fuselage.
Jeff
Stop Staring!!!!!
That Gridwork they landed on was built for the JSF flyofff a few years ago. It is basically a hover pit for STOVL jets. If memory serves it's about 10' of depth under the grid and I think has vents to divert the downward thrust off to the sides to prevent debris from being thrown back up into the intakes. It's just a couple hundred yards out from the Hgr I work at. I used to watch the JSF birds just sitting over that thing for hours.
I am actually surprised PAX let them land on the hover pit though. If the JSF folks were here I doubt they would have bought off on it. It things went really bad and that aircraft went screwy at the last minute it could have set the JSF flight test schedule back a notch or 2.
The Oyster Guy
New Member
I think the guy has got more money than sense. I really doubt it was simply coincidence that he's suffered both a radio and hydraulic system failure on his first two flights... how long was that bird in mothballs? Not even machines are exempt from FatherTime's depradations.
Hopefully the mishap serves as a wake-up call... If he really wants to fly safely, they need to take a time out, groundtest and fully qualify as flightworthy ALL of the aircraft systems (as well as the airframe, in light of the "belly rub").
Hopefully the mishap serves as a wake-up call... If he really wants to fly safely, they need to take a time out, groundtest and fully qualify as flightworthy ALL of the aircraft systems (as well as the airframe, in light of the "belly rub").
Dougstermd
ORGASM DONOR
Interesting plane 11-13-2007 07:53 AM Damn, you ARE that stupid. You have no clue what you're talking about, shut the hell up.
Oh come on don't be a coward sign it. So we can see who knows what they are talking about
Oh come on don't be a coward sign it. So we can see who knows what they are talking about
flomaster
J.F. A sus ordenes!
The Harrier like many other Militry aircraft has had it share of problems but has overcome many of them. When I first came in the Corps in the 80's they were new to the Corps and had a widow maker status as they had hover issues that caused them to flip over. If memory serves me it was a nozzle issue. The aircraft had been re-worked and as a CH-46 Crewman spent many days watching them land on the ship and operate with us without any issues. It surely is a very cool aircraft and a great close air support fighter.
Remember guys that PAX is a test facility and although we have test areas we still have to fly back from them and getting back means flying over your home and mine. This Harrier pilot did what countless others have done. He brought a crippled aircraft back home safely. Kudos to him and more power to him for being able to do what most civilians dream to do.
Remember guys that PAX is a test facility and although we have test areas we still have to fly back from them and getting back means flying over your home and mine. This Harrier pilot did what countless others have done. He brought a crippled aircraft back home safely. Kudos to him and more power to him for being able to do what most civilians dream to do.
desertrat
0_0
I was sitting at the light at 235 and 4 coming from Solomons on Saturday around 145pm and saw this thing coming like it was flying out St Andrews Chruch Rd. coming towards me with this little plane close by, my thought was this little plane had flown into a no fly-zone and was being chased back to St Mary's Airport.
I also hope their fun and experiment with plane doesn't bring it down on someones house, school or commerical area with lots of people around. Get it out over the Bay or the Paxtuent to test it.
Here's a quote from their site.
Great, they managed to fly a plane over a populated area that not many people believed would fly.
clevalley
...
I got a kick out of the above myself reading the updates to the thread this morning and had to go to a meeting...
I am surprised SM Airport would allow them to take off from there. Yes, it is a vertical takeoff, but I am still surprised....
Sure would not want to be the one to hold the liability policy for that plane...
desertrat
0_0
I got a kick out of the above myself reading the updates to the thread this morning and had to go to a meeting...
I am surprised SM Airport would allow them to take off from there. Yes, it is a vertical takeoff, but I am still surprised....
Sure would not want to be the one to hold the liability policy for that plane...
Not quite. They hardly ever do a vertical takeoff.
bohman
Well-Known Member
Exactly, if we were that worried about living on a future crash site we'd move. The track record for pilots landing at Pax is pretty damned good.
However, the counter to this argument is that most of the risky flights in question are for the benefit of our operational forces - not somebody's hobby. I am really surprised that they were allowed to land on that site.
desertrat
0_0
Be interesting to see if they are allowed to take off when and if they get it fixed.
bohman
Well-Known Member
The little kid in me wants to say, "yeah, let it fly!" just because I'd love to see it, but if I were Pax controller I'd tell them to put that thing on a truck and go fly somewhere else.
jrt_ms1995
Well-Known Member
It's not an AV-8B (or any other kind of AV-8), it's an old Royal Navy Sea Harrier. As someone suggested earlier, it was likely procured overseas and imported, legally, to the U.S. Certainly was never U.S.D.O.D. surplus. The British developed the original Harrier line of aircraft in the '60s (and this is one of those, though i don't know when it was manufactured). In the late-60s/early-70s (hey, I wasn't even a teen then) the USMC bought a number (80-something comes to mind) of the Royal Air Force version, modified them for US service and they were designated AV-8A, then later bought several of the 2-seat versions, which became the TAV-8A; yes, they bought the trainer last. Many of the AV-8As were later converted to AV-8Cs, mainly by adding several items underneath to improve lift in near-earth hover, a flare/chaff dispenser, and a radar-thingie that looked like a tennis ball out near each wing tip. Other than training issues, the largest problem was the Rolls-Royce Pegasus engine. There's only one per aircraft, and they had a tendency to come apart, turning the aircraft into a Carteret (or Craven, depending on location) County Land Dart. The later iteration AV-8B (and whatever the Brits call theirs) was jointly developed by British Aerospace and McDonnell-Douglas, and is definitely an improvement (in terms of accident rate). If you look at the photos on the Nalls Aviation site, you'll see the 3-piece windscreen and the outriggers right at the wing tips; these are visual cues. The later AV-8B and its Brit equivalent have a one-piece windscreen and the wingspan was increased, so the outriggers appear to be further inboard.
desertrat
0_0
If you look at their site it shows them buying it and picking it up after being shipped here.
You know your Harriers. Why do they put water in them?