Just a thought, but if you got a Harrier Gr.3 or the nose of one, would it be possible to backdate it to a Harrier Gr.1 relatively easily? Also, would it be easier if it was one of the Harrier Gr.3’s that were converted from Gr.1’s? Much prefer the look of the Gr.1’s myself, and the only true Gr.1 left that isn’t a kestrel is locked away in a hangar at RAF Wittering!
By: Flood - 23rd July 2005 at 22:43
Anyhow, its now ready for spraying, hence the patchwork appearance, especially as the pointy nosecone is in primer and the wiper hump fairing is from an FRS.2 !
Um… 😮 Thats what threw me. Honest.
Flood
By: Rlangham - 23rd July 2005 at 16:41
Don’t get down to the South West much but if i do i’ll PM you, cheers for the offer. Anyone out there know how much either a complete or nose section of a Harrier Gr.3 goes for nowadays?
By: Dave T - 23rd July 2005 at 14:34
Are you planning on taking her to any Bruntingthorpe events? Might go up to Cockpitfest one day but its a whole year away now!
Yes, but i’m afraid it wont be for some time.
Hopefully by early next year it should be at least presentable once i’ve fitted the seat, instrument panels, HUD, moving map etc, etc…
If your ever in the Sou’ West, why not pop in ?
Cheers….
By: Rlangham - 23rd July 2005 at 13:32
Good idea, swapping nose cones from Gr.1 to Gr.3, i was wondering if that could be possible. Are you planning on taking her to any Bruntingthorpe events? Might go up to Cockpitfest one day but its a whole year away now!
By: Dave T - 23rd July 2005 at 07:26
Morning all… interesting debate overnight.
Yes, ZD670 is not a Harrier II, it is the last GR.3 built of a batch of four Falklands attrition replacements, and served in Belize up until the RAF pull out.
Historically speaking it therefore has only ever been a GR.3, but i had a chance to acquire a ‘pointed’ nosecone, so naturally i took it 😉
Yes, it lacks the camera port because it is in fact a T.8 type as currently in use, but is also applicable to the AV-8C which also had the camera deleted.
The hump looks more pronounced than normal due to the camera angle, is merely the fairing for the hot air duct hole.
Its only a five minute job to change the nosecones, and i thought it’d be interesting to take it to one event (Cockpitfest ?) in GR.3 guise, and the next in ‘GR.1’ mode.
Anyhow, its now ready for spraying, hence the patchwork appearance, especially as the pointy nosecone is in primer and the wiper hump fairing is from an FRS.2 ! 😀
Just waiting for a towbar to be delivered for my new car & borrow a suitable trailer to take to the sprayers.
I recently posted a photo of the instrument console over in the ‘instrument panels’ thread.
Still looking for internal parts though, especially floor panels and the side console upright ‘walls’…. anybody ?
Cheers……. 😀
By: David Burke - 23rd July 2005 at 01:29
Late at night! T.2?
By: MarkG - 23rd July 2005 at 01:16
Mark – A GR.5 or 7 nose cone isn’t compatible with GR.1/3 airframe in any way.
David, yes I just realised that and was editing my post when you replied! Is it a T.4 nose cone then?
By: David Burke - 23rd July 2005 at 01:13
Mark – A GR.5 or 7 nose cone isn’t compatible with GR.1/3 airframe in any way.
By: David Burke - 23rd July 2005 at 01:11
The machine at Wittering is a GR.1 DB airframe. She never entered Squadrn service and was used for trials by the manufacturers and other organisations. The GR.1 DB batch differ in number of respects to the GR.1’s that entered RAF service. There is another complete GR.1 DB airframe at East Fortune.
The GR.1’s that entered RAF service were modified to GR.3 standard .Later production machines were completed on the line as Gr.3’s . If she was built as a GR.1
then I don’t really see any problem in altering them back . If they were built as GR.3’s however it’s a little odd.
By: MarkG - 23rd July 2005 at 00:58
Except that one looks like a Harrier II…(coz it is!)
Flood
You sure about that?
ZD670 is certainly a GR.3 (and therefore not a Harrier II) but that nose cone doesn’t look like a GR.1 – where’s the camera window for starters and what’s the bump underneath? Looks more like a T.4 cone…?
Come on Dave, spill the beans! 😀
By: ian_st - 22nd July 2005 at 22:54
I worked on the GR1 to GR3 conversions at Wittering in 1976-7. The RAF guys (about a dozen of us) got the aircraft up for flight test after the civilian work parties did the conversion. It was a very interesting job. As I remember, there was a huge amount of wiring changes, but as somebody said above the main bit was the new nose which simply bolted on to the same fittings as the old one, so going backwards shouldn’t be too difficult!
By: Rlangham - 22nd July 2005 at 22:38
It is? I thought ZD670 was originally a Harrier Gr.3, and Harrier II’s were Gr.5’s and Gr.7’s?
By: Flood - 22nd July 2005 at 22:33
Except that one looks like a Harrier II…(coz it is!)
Flood
By: Rlangham - 22nd July 2005 at 22:08
Nice! Didn’t realise you were gonna convert her into Gr.1 configuration! Looks bloody beautiful, you planning on taking her to any shows?
By: Dave T - 22nd July 2005 at 21:15
What… you mean like this…?
😉
By: WebPilot - 22nd July 2005 at 17:27
A GR3 is basically a GR1 with a slightly more powerful engine, plus the laser nose and the RWR fairing on the tail, so a retro conversion back to GR1 should be straightforward, particularly on a cockpit section only. As far as I’m aware all the in-service GR1s were converted to GR3 with the exception of the airframe involved in the Plenum Chamber trials, so I would think the first generation Harrier kept at Wittering is also a deconverted GR3.
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July 22, 2005 at 4:36 pm