October 29, 2010 at 1:02 am
Any of you folks have any images of any of the various Kestrels, AV-8A and AV-8B Harrier aircraft which were operated at various times in the States, particularly Nasa?
There seems to be a surprising shortage of pictures floating around…
By: Lazy8 - 8th July 2013 at 07:22
[ATTACH=CONFIG]218513[/ATTACH]Interestingly by 1996 it had been ‘detailed’.
By: antonio1 - 7th July 2013 at 19:03
spotted at Langley in late 80’s
[ATTACH=CONFIG]218507[/ATTACH]
By: l.garey - 7th July 2013 at 14:27
Thanks for that post, Bluelight, confirming what I saw at the Smithsonian in 1986.
Anyone know when the wings were swapped? I haven’t found details in any searches I have done.
By: Arabella-Cox - 7th July 2013 at 13:35
NASA 521 is currently displayed at the Virginia Air & Space Center, Hampton, Virginia (I visited 5 days ago). I can confirm that both wings are clearly marked XS688 on their lower surfaces.
By: l.garey - 30th October 2010 at 15:11
Identity of NASA521
I thought I had a photo of NASA521 which I took in a visit to the Smithsonian in 1986, but cannot find it. When I returned to the Smithsonian in 2008, the Kestrel was no longer on display. So I cannot help with pictures.
However maybe someone can enlighten me about the following. NASA 521 was ex XS689, 64-18262 fuselage with (according to the catalogue) XS694 wings, but it wore XS688 under the wings.
I looked back at the thread “Harriers in Museums” http://forum.keypublishing.com/showthread.php?t=51123&page=5
where it is also stated that NASA521 has XS694 wings, but why did they have XS688 on them? XS688 is stated to be in the USAF Museum.
Laurence
By: Chox - 29th October 2010 at 19:34
Thanks for the info. I hadn’t looked into the history of that aircraft as yet so that’s certainly interesting to know!
By: DaveF68 - 29th October 2010 at 16:48
AV-8B: http://community.webshots.com/photo/fullsize/1150603068040346401JgAfEx
That’s the YAV-8B prototype, Fuselage of an AV-8A with the wings and intakes of the ‘B’
By: DaveF68 - 29th October 2010 at 16:47
Beware the TAV-8A never served with NASA – it was painted in the NASA scheme when aquired by the Museum, but it was a written off airframe from the USMC.
Tim, I think I may have some, I’ll have a look.
By: Chox - 29th October 2010 at 15:18
Sorry, maybe I wasn’t as clear as I could have been, I did mean the test aircraft. The preserved examples are fairly well-documented but pictures of them in-service are surprisingly rare. Even the Nasa ones seem surprisingly absent from their own databases. Thanks for the pointers though guys.
By: TwinOtter23 - 29th October 2010 at 10:14
One amongst this lot http://forums.airshows.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=28645
By: Bager1968 - 29th October 2010 at 07:03
If you mean test aircraft, here is an AV-8C in NASA colors outside the wind tunnel (upgraded AV-8A with improved flight control system, etc).
http://www.airliners.net/photo/1505068/
TAV-8A: http://virtualglobetrotting.com/map/nasa-tav-8a-harrier/view/?service=1
P.1127: http://www.highgallery.com/TestPilot/NASA./Hawker/Siddeley_P.1127.html
AV-8B: http://community.webshots.com/photo/fullsize/1150603068040346401JgAfEx
There are hundreds of photos on-line of the AV-8A, AV-8C, and AV-8B Harriers that served (and still serve) in the USMC.