Last USMC AV-8B Harrier II jets retire. 55 years of service

[MikeD]

This past week, Marine fixed wing attack squadron VMA-223 “Bulldogs” at MCAS Cherry Point, NC, was decommissioned. They were the last AV-8B Harrier squadron in USMC service, and also the last pure Marine Attack squadron in the USMC. They will re-equip with the F-35B Lightning II, but will recommission as a Fighter-Attack squadron, VMFA-223.

The USMC first brought the Hawker-Siddley AV-8A Harrier I into service in 1971, replacing these in 1987 with the McDonnell Douglas AV-8B Harrier II. 55 years of service in the USMC.

The AV-8B Harrier remains in Italian and Spanish navy service.


View: https://youtube.com/watch?v=fXGrv0ixm9s&pp=ygUdRGlhbW9uZCA5IHByb2R1Y3Rpb25zIFZNQS0yMjM%3D&ra=m

 

[derg]

Two of my really good friends flew them. A blend of love and fear of a machine!

 

[Minuteman]

The replacement model can melt & erode the deck much more efficiently.

The Harrier served its weird mission well.

 

[MikeD]

Two of my really good friends flew them. A blend of love and fear of a machine!

The original A and C model Harrier I’s, with their shorter wingspan and smaller size, were trickier to fly and far more unforgiving, than the later B model Harrier IIs. Of the original 102 A and C model Harrier I’s the USMC purchased, 51 were lost in operational accidents.

 

[killbilly]

The original A and C model Harrier I’s, with their shorter wingspan and smaller size, were trickier to fly and far more unforgiving, than the later B model Harrier IIs. Of the original 102 A and C model Harrier I’s the USMC purchased, 51 were lost in operational accidents.

A portable VCR and a video of a Harrier rolling into an attack run set to the tune of "Hells Bells" got me to enlist in the Marine Corps in 1992...ended up not shipping but damn, I wanted to fly that thing.

 

[Wardogg]

The original A and C model Harrier I’s, with their shorter wingspan and smaller size, were trickier to fly and far more unforgiving, than the later B model Harrier IIs. Of the original 102 A and C model Harrier I’s the USMC purchased, 51 were lost in operational accidents.

I had a CO in the 90s that said his entire initial class went to A model Harriers and that he was the only surviving member of that class.

 

[USMCmech]

Fun fact, since the Harrier was effectively a STOVL airplane, especially off of the LHA and LHD ships a short takeoff roll was nessacary. Once the pilot of a Harrier released his brakes for the short takeoff roll he was going off the bow of the ship no matter what.

Between reaction time, idle thrust, and the mediocre braking capacity from the single main gear, there was no way to stop once the roll had begun. They were either going to reach "Vr" or fall off the bow.