The story of the Harrier was written out in aviation history through the ingenuity of 3 men: Sydney Camm, Ralph Hooper and Stanley Hooker. Sydney Camm was born in 1893 and was also responsible for aircraft such as the Hawker Hunter and Hawker Hurricane and became the Chief Designer of Hawker Siddeley in the 1950s. Ralph Hooper was the youngest of these three men; born in 1927 and was Chief Designer of the Harrier Project. Stanley Hooker was responsible for the power of the P.1127/Kestrel FGA, the prototype Harrier, and along with Gordon Lewis, is responsible for the creation of the Pegasus engine.
The story of the Harrier really starts with that of the P.1127, in the latter parts of the 1950s. The three mentioned men joined forces in 1957 to draft up the initial development and design of the P.1127. In the July of 1960, testing finally began and by the end of the year the P.1127 (XP831) had managed to take off vertically to then fly horizontally. The first vertical take off, being tethered to the ground, took place on 21st October 1960 at Dunsfold Aerodrome. An untethered flight took place within a month of first vertical flight on the 21st October. Both these flights were flown by Chief Test Pilot Bill Bedford. A second prototype (XP836) made its first conventional takeoff at Dunsfold in July 1961. With the help of XP831 engineers, Hawker refined the engineering and techniques needed to achieve controlled vertical take of and landing, of which was finally achieved in the September of 1961. On top of the two prototypes, a further four P.1127 aircraft were constructed to enhance pilot familiarisation and to further develop the Pegasus engine. The test program of the P.1127 airframes also looked into the potential to land on aircraft carriers, and the first successful landing was completed on HMS Ark Royal in 1963. The last of the initial prototypes (XP984) was fitted with the Pegasus 5 engine, and this example (XP984) became the Kestrel prototype. THE HAWKER KESTREL: Among such differences such as a more powerful engine than the P.1127, the Kestrel featured fully swept wings and a larger vertical stabiliser. Nine examples of the Kestrel were built, excluding the last P.1127 prototype (XP984), and were flown by six British pilots, and two pilots each from the U.S and West Germany. The first Kestrel first flew on 7th March 1964 and when evaluation was complete in November 1965, a total of 960 sorties were flown. THE HAWKER HARRIER: Initially designed as an operational close support and reconnaissance aircraft the Harrier developed into what it was directly from the P.1127 and Kestrel airframes. During the year of 1965 Hawkers supersonic aircraft, the P.1154, had been cancelled by the labour government and thus all work at Kingston had ceased. With this, the MoD issued requirement ASR384 for a V/STOL ground attack aircraft, supplemented by an immediate order for six preproduction developments on the Kestrel. These aircraft were to be known as P.1127 RAF, and the first example flew on 31st August 1966. Within a year the RAF ordered 60 examples, all to be named Harrier GR.1 The first Squadron to receive the new Harrier aircraft was to be No.1 Squadron at RAF Wittering, and when they received them in April 1969, marked the beginning of a four decade service life. In that same year in May 1969, the capabilities of the Harrier were demonstrated when two aircraft took part in the Daily Mail Transatlantic Air Race; flying between St Pancras railway station in London, and Downtown Manhattan in the U.S. The Harrier completed the race in a time of 6 hours and 11 minutes, with the help of aerial refuelling. In service with the RAF, the Harrier was strategically placed with the bulk of the fleet in West Germany to defend against a potential invasion of Western Europe by Warsaw Pact forces. The Harriers unique abilities enabled the RAF to disperse forces away from vulnerable air bases and where often hidden in wooded areas whilst on exercises or actual deployment. The Harrier squadrons of the RAF saw several deployments overseas as the aircrafts ability to operate from very short runways brought a completely new dimension to battle planning. BRITISH AEROSPACE HARRIER II / MCDONNELL DOUGLAS AV-8B: During the 1980s, the Harrier developed even further with a joint venture between British Aerospace and McDonnell Douglas. The result was the Harrier with an elevated cockpit, revised engine intakes and exhausts and better avionics. A major improvement was the use of composites for the one piece wing, which reduced overall weight and allowed a greater payload. These new Harriers were used with USMC for day and night close support operations. The UK received Harrier II GR5, GR7, GR7A, GR9 and GR9A aircraft. BRITISH AEROSPACE SEA HARRIER: The Sea Harrier is a naval version of the Harrier mainly used for reconnaissance or attack. When the P.1127 landed on the deck of HMS Ark Royal, it wasn't until 15 years later that a specialised naval version first flew at Dunsford in 1973 on August 20th. The Royal Navy had already pre-ordered 24 examples; based on the success of the RAFs Harrier GR1s and by the time of the first flight, this number increased to 34 aircraft. In April 1980, the Sea Harrier FRS.1 entered Royal Navy service with its principal role being that of providing air defence to Royal Navy ships. Serving with distinction in the Falklands Campaign in 1982 as well as in both Gulf wars and the Balkans conflict. In all of these, the Sea Harrier operated mainly from Carriers positioned around the conflict zones. The use of the Sea Harrier in the Falklands is probably the most high profile and important success recorded by the aircraft whilst on operations. Taking off from HMS Hermes and HMS Invincible, the Sea Harrier defeated 20 enemy aircraft whilst only losing one through enemy ground fire. Although the Sea Harrier was a versatile and capable aircraft, and despite a vigorous marketing campaign, the Sea Harrier was only exported to India, even thought there was intense interest from the militaries of Argentina and Australia. The Sea Harrier FA.2 was produced for the Royal Navy in 1993, which had an uprated engine, a much improved weapons system and enhanced air-to-air capabilities. Production of the Sea Harrier was halted in 1998, and the last Royal Navy Sea Harrier being decommissioned in 2006. THE END: On 15th September 2010, a sixteen aircraft flypast over RAF Cottesmore marked the end of a 41 year service history and was officially drawn out of service in March 2011. By Connor Woodward
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