March 2016 AH 17PHOTOS: GUY ACETO
The world’s
only civilian-
owned harrier
jump jet was
big news in
the aviation
community.Sharpie, because we had only
one piece of paper...and a
Sharpie,” he says.
Next came the hard part.
Once the aircraft had been
shipped to its new home in
St. Mary’s County, Md., a
dedicated team of volunteers
gathered, many of them for-
mer Harrier mechanics and
crew members. Some regu-
larly drove up to six hours to
be part of the project. The
broker involved in acquiring
the SHAR also managed to
obtain much-needed replace-
ment and spare parts, even
aircraft jacks, a tow bar and
drop tanks.
Team SHAR spent the
next 13 months preparing
the jet to roar back to life.
Along the way, they had to
deal with a very exacting
FAA looking over their
shoulders. Nothing like this
had ever been done before,
and it was only due to Nalls’
experience as a pilot and his
crew’s commitment that FAA
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credentials, especially where
the Harrier was concerned,
were unassailable. He had
experience in testing aircraft,
having attended the USAF
Test Pilot School; more than
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(the original Marine version
of the Harrier); and some 400
shipboard landings. He had
also served on the test team
that brought the improved
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loss of engine power. He
glided to a civilian airport
and performed a dead-stick
landing, stopping just 50 feet
short of the runway’s end.
Nalls was awarded the Air
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Harrier landing.
Much of the work involved
in getting the Sea Harrier
back into the air requiredÅVM[[MIVLQVOMV]Q\a)\
one point, for example, the
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alcohol, which was passed
through the engine intake to
dissolve residue from various
“residents” that had made
the engine bay their home
while the jet sat idle. The
team re-engineered the land-
ing system and some of the
emergency systems. As Nalls
notes, “Nothing about it has
been easy.” Although the
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ejection seat couldn’t be
supported, it turned out that
the Stencel S-III-S seat—
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with few problems. The team
was also fortunate when it
came to the all-important
Pegasus Mk.104 engine. It
had a grand total of 2.3 hours
on it—actually better than
zero time, since it meant the
engine had completed a post-
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prior to being put into sur-
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of Defence.
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on November 10, 2007, was
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lic failure during the second
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gear from locking into place.Nalls landed at nearby Naval
Air Station Patuxent River,
with some slight damage to
the aircraft. Team SHAR’s
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Nalls says there was only
one time when he questioned
his decision to take on the
project: when he headed
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years. He knew that once he
pushed the throttle forward,
there was no going back. The
issue wasn’t whether or not
\PMIQZXTIVM_W]TLÆaJ]\whether after all this time he
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out, however, he regained
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doubts in his jet wash.
Word has since spread
about Nalls’ undertaking.
The world’s only civilian-
owned Harrier Jump Jet was
big news in the aviation com-
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got very busy for Art and his
team. They participate in
six to eight airshows a year,
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Their success has led him
to purchase a second FRS.
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trainer, which is expected to
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Art Nalls says he’s merely
the custodian of his Har rier
collection, and his goal is to
train the team’s next genera-
tion of Harrier pilots. His
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includes Lt. Col. Jenna
Dolan, USMCR; Lt. Col.
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USAF; and Major Monica
Marusceac, USMCR. The
Harrier’s legacy is clearly in
good hands. ongoing legacy
Nalls taxis to the
show line. He recently
added a second FRS.
to his collection.