98 FLYPAST June 2018
FROM THE WORKSHOP HARRIER
This method of abrasion is a
relatively new technology – very
soft, food-grade bicarbonate of
soda is blasted at high pressure
to remove the paint, but it does
so without damaging the surface
beneath.
There are downsides, however,
the blast medium is expensive and
it takes considerable time to mask
up the airframe to prevent any
ingress. The soda also created a
phenomenal amount of mess which
was very labour intensive to clean
up. But the result was stunning and
left us with a blank canvas for the
new scheme.From 3 to 1
Once all the paint had been
removed we moved on to all
the structural repairs and
modifications. The fin restoration
involved drilling out hundreds of
rivets to remove the RWR structure.
We also had to have a new section
of leading edge manufactured to
plug the gap in the structure where
the RWR had been. This was riveted
into place along with an early GR.1
fin cap we had found.
It was at this point we realised
the GR.1 fin cap was different from
that of the GR.3. The leading-edge
profile remained identical, but the
later cap had been reduced in sizeto create extra space for the RWR
modification.
Differences were also noted to the
structure on the airbrake. In service
the brake had been shortened by
6in (15.2cm) to give clearance for
dispensing flares when a flare pack
was fitted immediately behind the
airbrake bay. To do this conversion
correctly, we needed to find an
unmodified early specification
airbrake. By chance, Bill Fern at the
South Yorkshire Aircraft Museum at
Doncaster had one and the part was
very kindly supplied to help with the
project.
During the race, XV741 was fitted
with large wingtip extensions,
known as ferry tips. To the best of
our knowledge this was one of only
a few times that a Harrier flew with
these in service.
Ferry tips were abandoned as
they were so time-consuming to
fit or remove and created minimal
aerodynamic advantages. Sourcing
a matching pair completed the
structural modifications required
for the wing.
Every single access panel was
removed during the restoration to
allow access to clean and detail the
internal bays. A large quantity of
black powder was found in the rear
fuselage – coal dust from St Pancras
had blown inside and remainedThe GR.1 nose cone during fi tting. Enviroblast UK used soda blasting technology to remove any paint.Detailing the wings: note the enlarged
photos for reference. GRAHAM HALL