© Copyright 2008, 2009 Nalls Aviation Inc.
To all those who came by the booth at ICAS, thanks for taking the time to talk to me about the Sea Harrier. Hopefully, you enjoyed the slide presentation on the progress to date. I had hoped to have it in the air by ICAS, but it takes time to bake a cake. I can't microwave this thing.
The FAA performed our airworthiness inspection yesterday. Chesapeake Aviation (where you..... sorry, old joke), worked late into the previous night to remove every single panel from the SHAR, so the inspectors could easily view all the innerds. The night before, we asked ourselves, the many "what if..." questions and double-checked our inventory for all the publications we said we have. No one slept easily that night. This is a huge deal, for both the FAA and us.
Two inspectors, plus a "ringer" who used to work on Harriers at Cherry Point, arrived right on time and started to dissect the plane. They climbed all over the beast with flashlights and mirrors. They looked through the maintenance technical publications, the logs and records, our spares inventory, and discussed the entire program with the maintainers and myself. They nodded their heads to our answers.
An hour and a half into the inspection, the chief inspector grabbed his "how to inspect" book and started reading. I was anticipating the worst, possibly some regulation that we can't do this and can't do that, or a formula that proves bumble bees can't fly, etc...... Turns out, he was researching if we needed to have an N-number posted on the plane because of it's historical significance and being certificated "Experimental." Posting the N-number is something we expected to do anyway and is really no big deal. We'll post it as soon as it's warm enough for paint to dry, but keep the XZ-439 on the ventral fin.
In the end, the single biggest discrepency was --- the panels were off the airplane!! A Harrier is obviously not airworthy with all those panels removed.
The FAA will return on 11 January to present the certificate and operating limitations. In the meantime, we'll finish all the other details, complete the weight and balance and re-install all the panels. We are soooo close I can taste it! (insert your own joke here - - - mine were all over the line)
I'm coordinating one final simulator ride to emphasize emergency procedures and we're essentially, ready to fly. Barring any severe fits of "ham-fist-itis" in the sim, that could happen almost any time.
Expect the first flight to occur mid-January, but I ask your understanding in advance. I will keep first flight very close-to-chest, but will annouce the details once we're back on the ground. We don't want a huge crowd for first flight, but will have a roll out sometime after first flight and invite the world. I'm sure it will be a typical Marine Corps feast - 5,000 beers, a pound of cheese, and a box of saltines.
Maybe I can get the Blue Angels to flyover. They LOVE the Harrier, they really do.
Sincerely,
Art Nalls, Jr.
artnalls@earthlink.net
202-582-6300
The FAA performed our airworthiness inspection yesterday. Chesapeake Aviation (where you..... sorry, old joke), worked late into the previous night to remove every single panel from the SHAR, so the inspectors could easily view all the innerds. The night before, we asked ourselves, the many "what if..." questions and double-checked our inventory for all the publications we said we have. No one slept easily that night. This is a huge deal, for both the FAA and us.
Two inspectors, plus a "ringer" who used to work on Harriers at Cherry Point, arrived right on time and started to dissect the plane. They climbed all over the beast with flashlights and mirrors. They looked through the maintenance technical publications, the logs and records, our spares inventory, and discussed the entire program with the maintainers and myself. They nodded their heads to our answers.
An hour and a half into the inspection, the chief inspector grabbed his "how to inspect" book and started reading. I was anticipating the worst, possibly some regulation that we can't do this and can't do that, or a formula that proves bumble bees can't fly, etc...... Turns out, he was researching if we needed to have an N-number posted on the plane because of it's historical significance and being certificated "Experimental." Posting the N-number is something we expected to do anyway and is really no big deal. We'll post it as soon as it's warm enough for paint to dry, but keep the XZ-439 on the ventral fin.
In the end, the single biggest discrepency was --- the panels were off the airplane!! A Harrier is obviously not airworthy with all those panels removed.
The FAA will return on 11 January to present the certificate and operating limitations. In the meantime, we'll finish all the other details, complete the weight and balance and re-install all the panels. We are soooo close I can taste it! (insert your own joke here - - - mine were all over the line)
I'm coordinating one final simulator ride to emphasize emergency procedures and we're essentially, ready to fly. Barring any severe fits of "ham-fist-itis" in the sim, that could happen almost any time.
Expect the first flight to occur mid-January, but I ask your understanding in advance. I will keep first flight very close-to-chest, but will annouce the details once we're back on the ground. We don't want a huge crowd for first flight, but will have a roll out sometime after first flight and invite the world. I'm sure it will be a typical Marine Corps feast - 5,000 beers, a pound of cheese, and a box of saltines.
Maybe I can get the Blue Angels to flyover. They LOVE the Harrier, they really do.
Sincerely,
Art Nalls, Jr.
artnalls@earthlink.net
202-582-6300