Nalls Aviation Test Flies Civilian Harrier
Well, it’s been a long journey, taking over two years, but this past weekend Art Nalls took his privately-owned Sea Harrier for its first flight. Unfortunately, the second day of flying saw a partial hydraulic failure and ended in a partial gear-up landing. The good thing is that it’s a Harrier, so landing vertically is a pretty good solution for this situation. The aircraft suffered fairly minor damage, but it’s still another setback.
It’s been a little under two years now since the disassembled SHAR first arrived at its new home in Maryland. Since then, it’s been an odyssey of part hunting and USMC mechanic borrowing, and moreso, a demonstration of the dedication of the volunteers working in the plane. But this past Saturday, the SHAR took to the air in the hands of Nalls, and the team celebrated a successful first day of flying. Sunday saw more flight time, but 15 minutes into the second flight, Art got a hydraulic warning. After a few troubleshooting steps, the decision was made to make a vertical landing at nearby NAS Patuxent River. On touchdown, the nose gear and starboard outrigger promptly collapsed. Art has posted a full update as well as a chase plane video of the landing at his site.
A little background about Art Nalls- he graduated from the US Naval Academy and commissioned as a Marine second lieutenant, and went on the fly the AV-8A Harrier operationally. He was later chosen to attend test pilot school, and as a test pilot, he helped fly the new then-new AV-8B Harrier II. Art is also well-known for his time performing jet engine airstart tests. This consists of intentionally shutting down the engine in the air- an airplanes that are generally not known for their gliding ability- and then allowing the engine to cool for a period of time before restarting. As a result of this, Art has over six hours of engine-off time in single-engine jets. Certainly this is a unique claim. After retirement, Art joined the CAF, and now flies his L-39 and Piper Cub at shows across the country.