Hawker Siddeley Harrier

Hawker Siddeley Harrier
Country	UK
Role	V/STOL ground-attack aircraft
First flight	28 December 1967
Built	278

The Hawker Siddeley Harrier, developed in the 1960s, was the first of the Harrier Jump Jet series of aircraft. It was the first operational close-support and reconnaissance fighter aircraft with vertical/short takeoff and landing (V/STOL) capabilities and the only truly successful V/STOL design of the many that arose in that era. The Harrier was developed directly from the Hawker Siddeley Kestrel prototype aircraft, following the cancellation of a more advanced supersonic aircraft, the Hawker Siddeley P.1154. The British Royal Air Force (RAF) ordered the Harrier GR.1 and GR.3 variants in the late 1960s. It was exported to the United States as the AV-8A, for use by the US Marine Corps (USMC), in the 1970s.

Source: Hawker Siddeley Harrier on Wikipedia

Hawker Siddeley Harrier Walk Around
Photographers	Luc Colin
Localisation	Yorkshire Air Museum
Victor K.2 XL231	Lusty Lindy, at the Yorkshire Air Museum, York. The prototype for the B.2 to K.2 conversion. XL231 is one of two Victors currently in taxiable condition
Photos	108

Harrier GR.3 01

Harrier GR.3 02

Harrier GR.3 03

Harrier GR.3 04

Harrier GR.3 05

Harrier GR.3 06

Harrier GR.3 07

Harrier GR.3 08

Harrier GR.3 09

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Harrier II RAF GR.7 Walk Around
Photographer	Cees Hendriks
Localisation	Unknow
Photos	45

Harrier T.4 trainer Walk Around
Photographer	Cees Hendriks
Localisation	Unknow
Harrier T.4	Two-seat training version for the Royal Air Force, equivalent to the GR.3, with Pegasus Mk 103 engine, laser seeker and radar warning receiver. Reverted to short fin of single seater
Photos	150

Harrier T.4 trainer

AV-8A Harrier Walk Around
Photographer	Howard Mason
Localisation	Unknow
Photos	72

AV-8A Harrier

Harrier GR.3 Walk Around
Photographer	Michael Benolkin
Localisation	Unknow
Photos	23

Hawker-Siddeley AV-8A ‘Harrier’ Walk Around
Photographer	Unknow
Localisation
Photos	28

Defying Gravity

The Hawker Siddeley Harrier (the “Harrier GR.1/GR.3”) was a revolutionary feat of British engineering. Developed from the P.1127 experimental aircraft, it was the only V/STOL (Vertical/Short Take-Off and Landing) design to reach full operational status during the Cold War. Designed to operate from forest clearings and hidden roads if airfields were destroyed by nuclear strikes, the Harrier used “vectored thrust” to take off vertically like a helicopter but fly with the speed of a frontline jet fighter.

Attribute	Technical Specification (Harrier GR.3)
Role	V/STOL Ground Attack / Reconnaissance
Crew	1 (Pilot)
First Flight (Harrier)	December 28, 1967
Powerplant	1 × Rolls-Royce Pegasus 103 turbofan
Thrust	21,500 lbf (95.6 kN)
Maximum Speed	730 mph (1,176 km/h / Mach 0.95)
Combat Radius	200 miles (370 km) in lo-lo-lo profile
Armament	2 × 30mm ADEN cannons; 2 × AIM-9 Sidewinders; up to 5,000 lbs of bombs/rockets

Mastering the Hover

Vectored Thrust Nozzles: The heart of the Harrier is the Pegasus engine, which has four rotating nozzles. By moving a single lever in the cockpit, the pilot can angle the exhaust from fully rearward (for forward flight) to fully downward (for hover).
Reaction Control System (RCS): When hovering, traditional flight surfaces (ailerons/rudders) are useless because there is no airflow over them. The Harrier uses small “puffer ducts” in the nose, tail, and wingtips that bleed air from the engine to steer the plane.
The “Outrigger” Gear: Because the engine and nozzles occupy the center of the fuselage, the Harrier uses a unique bicycle-style landing gear with two main wheels under the body and two small “outrigger” wheels at the wingtips.
VIFFing: Pilots discovered they could “Vector In Forward Flight” (VIFFing). By slightly rotating the nozzles downward during a dogfight, the Harrier could suddenly slow down or change its flight path, forcing an enemy attacker to “overshoot.”

Operational Legend

The Falklands War (1982): The Sea Harrier (naval version) and the RAF’s GR.3 proved the V/STOL concept in combat. Operating from carriers in high seas, they achieved an incredible air-to-air kill ratio against faster Argentine supersonic jets.
Off-Base Operations: During Cold War exercises in Germany, Harriers were famously hidden in camouflaged hides in woods and refueled/rearmed from hidden trucks, proving they didn’t need vulnerable concrete runways.
Global Evolution: The design was so successful that the U.S. Marine Corps adopted it as the AV-8A, eventually leading to the heavily redesigned AV-8B Harrier II.
Retirement: The original British Harriers were retired in 2010 (Navy) and 2011 (RAF), with the F-35B Lightning II eventually taking over the role as the world’s premier STOVL fighter.