Petition running to allow Art Nalls to display his Sea Harrier in the UK

Art Nalls, the ex US Marine Lt Colonel, has spent a small fortune and countless hours on restoring to airworthy

condition his ex Royal Navy Sea Harrier F/A2, XZ439. Art would really like to bring 'the old girl' back to the UK

but is being denied by our Civil Aviation Authority who say it is too dangerous to display in the UK at airshows.

This is far from the truth as Art and his team have successfully completed over 100 flights in the US without

any problems . Please sign this petition and help bring back to the UK skies this legend of British aviation.

http://www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/civil-aviation-authority-uk-allow-art-nalls-to-display-his-ex-royal-navy-sea-harrier-at-uk-air-shows?utm_campaign=signature_receipt&utm_medium=email&utm_source=share_petition

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Art Nalls, the ex US Marine Lt Colonel, has spent a small fortune and countless hours on restoring to airworthy

condition his ex Royal Navy Sea Harrier F/A2, XZ439. Art would really like to bring 'the old girl' back to the UK

but is being denied by our Civil Aviation Authority who say it is too dangerous to display in the UK at airshows.

This is far from the truth as Art and his team have successfully completed over 100 flights in the US without

any problems . Please sign this petition and help bring back to the UK skies this legend of British aviation.

 

http://www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/civil-aviation-authority-uk-allow-art-nalls-to-display-his-ex-royal-navy-sea-harrier-at-uk-air-shows?utm_campaign=signature_receipt&utm_medium=email&utm_source=share_petition

 

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Much as I sympathise with the sentiment and have signed, this pettition is on a hiding to nothing. The CAA have been absolutely brutal in recent history in preventing historical British military aircraft from taking to the skies again. There is NO chance of seeing a Lightning flying in the UK ever again, the chance of seeing a Buccaneer is also slim (one has been given provisional permission to fly, but with a list of conditions as long as your arm), and even the second airworthy Lancaster faces a monumental task of reaching the point of proving its airworthiness to the CAA bureaucrats. I am surprised that the Vulcan and the Sea Vixen have managed to get permission.

There is something odd about our approach to preserving military history in the UK. We have spectacularly failed to save an Invincble class carrier from the scrapheap, HMS Plymouth is going to go to the breakers yard, we have very few floating museum pieces unlike the Yanks despite a much longer and more illustrious history for our navy and we refuse to let almost none of our historical aricraft fly. Its almost like we are ashamed of our history.

I'm curious to know exactly what grounds the CAA have for believing it to be too dangerous for UK audiences. I've seen Harriers perform at airshows before, so as long as this is maintained and operated correctly (which it appears to be) what exactly is the problem?

I'm curious to know exactly what grounds the CAA have for believing it to be too dangerous for UK audiences. I've seen Harriers perform at airshows before, so as long as this is maintained and operated correctly (which it appears to be) what exactly is the problem?

The usual list of excuses are :

- Parts availability

- Support of design authority (almost always BAE Systems through inheritance from the merger of the various aircraft companies. BAE Systems seldom supports these activities)

- Engine availability (lack of zero-hour RR Olympus 301 engines is about to ground the Vulcan forever because she blew two to smithereens last summer, and the cost to make new ones is ASTRONOMICAL)

- Nothing with re-heat (dumping raw fuel into the exhaust to boost speed) will ever get permission. Not actually an issue for a Harrier, however.

- Properly documented maintenance history (private owned planes always have gaps, the Lightning crash in SA a few years ago killed the pilot, allegedly due to lack of maintenance on the ejector seat); document is called a "700"

I was at Heathrow today round the back of the BA maintenance buildings is a Concord, I thought that they had all been sent to museums around the world.

Just reading this thread the Lockheed Starfighter sprung to mind. Also known as the Widowmaker as they would just drop out of the sky when cornering too slow, but they still let it fly at Airshows when it was in service.

When I was doing my CPL the CAA were described as 'Zeppelin pilots', in my career I found nothing that disproved that comment. Anything the CAA got involved in was usually a cluster****. The Starfighter was unfairly named the Widowmaker because the new Luftwaffe insisted on using ab initio low hours pilots and lost a lot of aircraft. Other air forces used experienced pilots and had little problem.

- Engine availability (lack of zero-hour RR Olympus 301 engines is about to ground the Vulcan forever because she blew two to smithereens last summer, and the cost to make new ones is ASTRONOMICAL)

I regularly see the Vulcan in flight up here in sunny Yorkshire. Only the other day it was wheeling over my head doing some impressive low-level manoeuvres. If the pilots were worried about preserving the engines they didn't show it. They were roaring away on sharp turns and climbs. Stunning, beautiful plane.

I regularly see the Vulcan in flight up here in sunny Yorkshire. Only the other day it was wheeling over my head doing some impressive low-level manoeuvres. If the pilots were worried about preserving the engines they didn't show it. They were roaring away on sharp turns and climbs. Stunning, beautiful plane.

Where is the old girl based these days Verbal? I haven't managed to see her since she was restored to airworthiness.

Where is the old girl based these days Verbal? I haven't managed to see her since she was restored to airworthiness.

Robin Hood Airport, Doncaster.

Seeing as she always has a fairly low take-off weight nowadays (reading Vulcan 607 recently was an eye-opener, the first Black Buck raid was well over the maximum take-off weight for the plane), and because they are down to the last 4 serviceable 301s, I doubt very much what appears to us to be highly impressive is really straining the engines.

Robin Hood Airport, Doncaster.

 

Seeing as she always has a fairly low take-off weight nowadays (reading Vulcan 607 recently was an eye-opener, the first Black Buck raid was well over the maximum take-off weight for the plane), and because they are down to the last 4 serviceable 301s, I doubt very much what appears to us to be highly impressive is really straining the engines.

as a airplane enthusiast. This will wet your whistle.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2333721/RAF-unable-teach-new-pilots-months-propellers-fall-training-aircraft-mid-flight-grounding-entire-fleet.html

I see VTTS are now saying that an extension for the 2014/2015 display seasons is possible, if they get enough donations, citing new tricks to strengthen the wings after originally saying that 2013 was going to be the last season due to engine availability

They want to be careful they dont cry "wolf" one time too often...

RAF Finningley sounds somehow more appropriate.

RAF Finningley sounds somehow more appropriate.

Except that it is a civvie airport now.