A stunning practice display from the Spanish Armada was a great start to The Royal International Air Tattoo in Fairford United Kingdom. I'll be uploading as many displays as I can over the next few days
It was so awesome to see these jets again at RIAT this year. Top marks for the Spanish and Italian Navies for bringing them over. Excellent filming and great video as always 😎
The first time I saw a Harrier flying in a display I was totally mesmerised, literally. What a plane, might be old technology but dear God you'd want this in your back pocket in a tight situation.
It must be like going back to your old school and seeing the old headmistress doing gymnastics in a midi skirt and support hose. It ought to seem wrong but is honestly very impressive.
Stunning control in the hover by the Spanish Navy pilot. That final straight and level rolling pass simply gorgeous. Daf, your every take and overall camera work ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC.
Absolutely awesome video footage!! Always enjoy watching your videos Dafydd.... I love watching this Spanish Harrier, cracking displays it always gives!👏👌...hopefully the weather will be kind to you all over tihis weekend!!🫰...looking forward to seeing yours & Elwyns videos!!! Awesome job both of you!! Many thanks Paul 👍
Fantastic footage! Seeing this video and other videos of Tornado really rimnds me that we've only got limited amount of time left having the opportunity see them fly. Also, I've only been to RIAT during the weekends but Thursday seems like a nice day to visit as well
The whine of that Pegasus as it winds down...such an iconic sound, brings back many happy memories of watching the RAF Harriers at Waddington air show as a child.
grow up watching these over the Yeovil skyline! pretty boring around the Yeovilton skyline these days rarely anything in the sky's anymore - miss seeing all the seakings and harrier jets in the sky along with the Boeing AH-64 Apache don't see them anymore
Amazing aircraft, even 50+ years after introduction. I never realised quite how LOUD they were until I saw one doing a similar display at about 100 yards distance, at Folkestone air show, about 25 years ago. Impressive display, but painful.
What a marvellous aircraft. I remember the first time I saw and heard one was 50 years ago wben they first came in service. I cannot remember which show though. The sound seems to go right through you to the ground. If I was the enemy I would fear these.
Same here, saw one at an air show in Texas years ago. Built the old Matchbox kit (in RAF trim) in the 80s. Was one of my favorites for years. Neat to see the Spaniards still using them. Still a valuable weapon.
Fantastic to see this amazing aircraft, sadly we went to RIAT 2023 on Friday and got utterly and completely soaked to the skin LITERALLY 😢,a few displays were cancelled understandably, but still seen some amazing aircraft and flying displays, better luck today and Sunday for those of you who are going, sadly we could only go Friday, so I will be watching your videos from start to finish, keep up the good work 👍
I first encountered the harrier at the British grand prix at brands hatch it was hovering right above us at druids the blast was amazing .this must have been in the 70's well before health and safety
@@DafyddPhillips i just watched the interview again with Lt. Watson... classic! Thanks for all the great videos and shots, brings back those keen memories! 🔥💪🇨🇦
It was June 6th 1983, the incident happened off the coast of Portugal between Porto and Lisbon, and the ship was Spanish general cargo/container ship Alraigo bound for the Canary Islands. Once the Sea Harrier landed and the RN got notice, Admiral Ian Wright pretended the ship change course for first Lisbon, then Gibraltar and later Malta to hand over the airplane, or even make an underway ship-to-ship transfer. However, the Alraigo captain knew that following the Admiral suggestions was the best way to lose the salvage claim so he kept on route for the Canary Islands despite explicit pressures from British authorities, Needless to say, the ship arrived to Las Palmas harbour, and after some litigation the plane was disembarked six days later and transferred to a British tanker while the ship's owner and crew got part of the salvage reward.
The harrier came into service with the RN in the late 1960s and was retired at least five years ago, maybe longer, so I'm surprised to see anyone is still flying them. Also, apart from the UK and the US Navy, I didn't realise anyone else had bought them. So this is quite a surprise to me.
@@DafyddPhillips I've just read that in 1969 the Argentine military were interested in buying some but Douglas aircraft managed to offer the Argentinian military a load of cheap A4 Skyhawks instead. Imagine how different the Falklands conflict would have been if the Argentinians also had their own squadrons of harriers Apparently the Chinese government were interested in buying 200; of them at one point but decided not to go ahead with the deal. And the US marines bought some in the mid 1970s when their own aircraft industry couldn't come up with a reliable and practical version of their own and the Gerald Ford administration lost patience with the program and bought them 14 after the USMC were loaned a couple from the RAF and they really liked them
@@trevorbrown6654 That's an interesting piece of story. 1969 was still almost 9 years before the first fighter variant of the Harrier, the Sea Harrier equipped with Ferranti Blux Vixen radar (interesting piece of history on its own) so had the Argentinians got their hands on Harrier, it would've fulfilled the same role as an attacker ala A-4s. Though having Harriers would've meant a possible deployment to the occupied airfields of Falklands, an interesting what-if. By the way, the Harriers which have stayed in service/still in service in the 21st century have been the Harrier II variants, co-developed between McDonnell Douglas and BAe. They're quite different from the original Harriers and the Sea Harriers and are not as old as what you think!
@@mk.s4023 now you've got me saying that's interesting! I thought one of the reasons the harrier, whatever variant, was phased out was because sourcing spare parts for repairs was becoming problematic So if you say the mark IIs aren't as old as one might think then it's odd that this should be the case. What's even stranger is that no manufacturer to my knowledge has developed a true VTOL fighter bomber to replace it either. It's almost like nobody could better the design over half a century so they gave up. Maybe newer aircraft don't need particularly long runways anymore? However just because a plane is based on a old design doesn't mean it's totally outdated. Military variations of the Boeing 707 are still in use, the USAAF still flies U2 spy planes and B52 bombers are still in active service so I guess they still do important jobs
With a vertical landing, this aircraft burns so much fuel that it would be enough for one more ammunition load! Very expensive toy! При вертикальной посадке этот самолёт сжигает столько топлива что его хватило бы ещё на один боекомплект! Очень дорогая игрушка!
Dear RAF, why do we need to have the Spanish display one of the most incredibly designed aircraft ever designed here in the UK? Aviation heritage is important, but you decide it is not. Preserving our aviation heritage should be a priority, but sadly isn't anymore. How we can be proud of our aviation history if you have let all rust away into oblivion? No fly examples of the aircraft that defended our country, No Victors, No Vulcans, No Harriers, No Lightning's, No Buccaneers, No Canberra's, No Jaguar's, No Javelin's, No VC10's, No Meteor's, NO NIMROD!!! Plus many many other important aircraft. Shame on us all for letting it all rust away.
It's a sad prospect to think that soon RAF Tornados will join that list, especially the Tornado ADV. When the only flying Sea Harrier on display is the one in the US privately owned by an ex-USMC pilot, I don't know what to say.
Because the money has to come from somewhere (and there are Meteors still flying, 2 in the UK. They're just in private ownership like the Hunters. Canberra G-CTTS is also working towards that). Even the USAF doesn't have the money to keep around flying examples of significant aircraft like the F-106, SR-71, B-47, etc just for the jollies. Aside from that, if you want to talk about legacy, you should be looking at the Sea Harrier or a GR3. The Harrier II was a US-led design and production effort and the UK never operated the AV-8B+ variant that is still in service with the US, Spain and Italy. If we had bought into the + upgrade path, they might have been around for a lot longer as it would have been the only true multi-role fast jet in UK service until the Typhoons ground attack program matured.
Totally ridiculous that the RAF and the country that designed and built the Harrier handed the later production over to the Americans and McDonald Douglas and air forces like the Spanish and Indian Air forces plus the USAF still operate the Harrier Jump Jet in it's different forms, yet in the UK our Harries are either in Museums or scrap heaps.
"McDonald Douglas"(sic) McDonnell Douglas "and Indian Air forces plus the USAF still operate the Harrier Jump Jet "(sic) Incorrect. The Indian Navy operated first generation SHARs which were all retired in 2016. The United States Marine Corps operates the AV-8B Harrier II not the Air Force. The Air Force participated in evaluating the six Kestrels/XV-6As following the disbandment of the TES but never operated the Harrier or Harrier II.
