Nalls Aviation - Home of the Sea Harrier

This really is UPDATE 12.  All of the previous Updates are posted on our website, in chronological order.  Apparently, my math leaves something to be desired and a college education hasn't helped.
 
For the past six months, we've been two weeks away from flying.   Two weekends ago, we made up one of those weeks.  Last weekend, we lost a couple of weeks.  If anyone can do the math for me and tell me where we are, please do.   My best guess is we don't exactly know where we are. 
 
First, the good news:  Two weekends ago we convened a quorum of Marines, our usual volunteers, an avionics guru, our dedicated maintainers, cooks and dishwashers and worked straight through the weekend.  All anticipated supplies were on hand.  We attempted to do a marathon work session and take the SHAR as far as possible.  We accomplished quite a bit.
 
The radio installation is now complete.  The GPS is installed and works - we know EXACTLY where the airplane is positioned on the ground.  The pitot-static system is nearly complete, a camera system has been developed and nearly complete, new circuit breakers and wiring installed to support all this new equipment and new antennae located and installed.  None of this was easy. To further complicate matters,  we even installed an intercom (in a single-seat jet???) to the port wing tip so the pilot can communicate directly with the ground crew for post-start checks, etc.  Actually, the intercom was part of the original Sea Harrier design.  We just tapped into existing wiring for civilian communications and it works just fine.  It even has active noise cancellation incorporated, which is good and bad.  More on that later. Except for a very small punch-out list, by the end of the weekend, we were again ready to run the engine.  But, we ran out of weekend and people had to return to their day jobs.
 
The following weekend, our intentions were to service all the systems, fuel the airplane and continue with ground runs.  With a much smaller crew, we intended to do functional checks on all the systems, ensure that we have top-end RPM's, time the engine accelerations and verify that alternating current is now generating.  We had a significant test card to accomplish, but were continuing to take all this systematically, one step at a time, ad seriatum.  Just when it looked like we were making significant progress, all Hell broke loose.
 
Now the bad news:    On start up, the Gas Turbine Starter (GTS) initially performed as advertised.  The engine start, temperatures and RPM's were completely normal.  I then noticed some degree of concern on the faces of the expert ground crew.  I quickly determined this look of concern was completely justified because the airplane was on fire.
 
Sometime late in the start cycle, the GTS made a loud "pop" and spit a handful of turbine blades through its exhaust port all over the ramp, followed shortly by a large , orange flame. Quite dramatic, I assure you.  This was all completely unnoticed by me, since the active noise cancellation was actually working pretty well.  Hurray for modern technology - - but, I could have been a toasted biscuit and not known it.  Anyway, the expert ground crew gave me the universally-accepted signal for FIRE by running frantically in various directions, giving the appearance of disorganization.  It's amazing how universally-accepted this signal really is.  Ray Charles could have understood it.  Fortunately, we had just procured an extremely large, one-each, fire extinguisher that was positioned adjacent to the airplane.  The GTS, engine, batteries, cockpit, and FIRE were all secured in a matter of seconds, and the the SHAR looked like it was covered in snow.  No visible damage, beyond the small handful of turbine blades litering the ramp.  Visual inspection indicated the GTS will need some serious orthodonture..... 
 
Very few words were spoken, since we all understood the significance of the event. We spent the next several hours washing the SHAR, removing panels, and cleaning up the mess.  One of the biggest messes was trying to put the fully-fueled SHAR back into the hangar with a small garden tractor.  Our little lawn tractor just wouldn't do it.  After all, we anticipated that the airplane would have been empty when it returned to the hangar.  So we substituted a Chevy pickup, driven by Jack Shultz, one of our "eldest" volunteers.  I don't want to make an issue of his age and extremely valuable experience.  The SHAR eventually made it back into the hangar safley, but it took 45 minutes and he had his left turn signal on the entire time.  Seriously, Jack did a good job when tempers were getting short.
 
As one would imagine, the GTS failure dampened our spirits a bit, especially since we were so close to flying.  We anticipated flying the first week in August.  Now, we're out for a GTS.  But all is certainly not lost.  Actually, a GTS failure is quite common and the nature of the beast.  The GTS is notorious for this failure mode, similar to a lightbulb.  It will work hundreds of times flawlessly, then fail without warning, in spectacular fashion.  We are quite fortunate that it happened on our own ground.  We can replace it on our own terms and conditions, rather than in East Sweatsock, Iowa.   We will also have spares readily available for the next time, because with Harriers there WILL be a next time.
 
We've had emails and phone calls quite literally all over the world searching for a replacement and/or repair.  Lowes and Home Depot were fresh out of stock. We located a repair facility in North Carolina and are now quite certain our GTS can be repaired and that has been set in place.  Cost and schedule - to be determined, but it is repairable.  Additionally, we've located several potential spares and those are being procured as well.  We may even develope the repair capability in-house.
 
This is just an unfortunate speed bump on the road to first flight, but we will still get there.  
 
Even with all this, we are still not that far away from our first flight.  I won't predict when that will be, but it could still be very soon.
 
 
Sincerely,
Art Nalls, Jr.
artnalls@earthlink.net
202-582-6300