Talk Morgan Forums Thread Like Summary - Very rare sighting River Harrier

The Harrier, a cracking aircraft. I was lucky enough to serve on the mighty HMS Ark Royal and HMS Illustrious and saw these aircraft used daily. And hopefully we will have one flying in the UK soon. So if you want to see that, join the 'The Fly Harrier Trust'.

It was a failed takeoff from RAF Gütersloh back in 1991. Pilot ejected safely.

A house just up the road from me has a rare Lawn Harrier, you can see it from Google Earth.



https://maps.app.goo.gl/i1gM7egKbvM42hAa6

They have one at Brooklands that you can actually sit in, the ergonomics in the cockpit really seem quite old fashioned. I can remember seeing a couple at Brands Hatch at a Grand Prix meet, incredibly impressive aircraft.

I have also sat in the Brooklands Harrier. I'm 5' 7" and I fitted OK. Perhaps I missed my vocation. (There's not much advantage to being short - or as I was in my youth, average height - but I can at least comfort myself with the thought that I could have been an astronaut or a racing driver. Unlike the freakishly giant teenagers that seem to spill from the schools today).

I was on an organised midweek trip out of season, so apart from our party, Brooklands was pretty deserted. I got to spend a lot of time with the guy in charge of the Harrier who was an ex-pilot and told me a lot of interesting stories about it. He explained the controls and I was allowed to operate some of them, but when he told me to reach under the seat and pull a lever I couldn't shift it. He implored me to pull harder,... but still the thing wouldn't budge, so I told him it seemed to be jammed. "That's good," he said, "it's the ejector seat"!