danielwood5 Posted March 1, 2017 Share Posted March 1, 2017 Hi all, I'm currently working on the Airfix 1/72 Harrier GR.1 and I have a question about the airbrake positioning when the aircraft is in normal flight (i.e. not hovering about). I know that the airbrake overlaps the surrounding panels when retracted and the Airfix kit has two different actuators to pose it fully or partly open but I want to model it in full high speed flight so my question is how retracted did it go, did it sit as flush as it could to the fuselage or is the smaller Airfix actuator used to show it fully retracted? I've searched google but all the photos that I could find that show the airbrake in flight show the aircraft hovering (which is fair enough, it was fairly unique at pulling off that party trick). Any Harrier experts about who could help? Thanks. Dan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Boak Posted March 1, 2017 Share Posted March 1, 2017 I don't know about the larger/smaller actuators on the model, but the airbrake sat flush - not a lot of point in having an airbrake out if you want to go fast. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stever219 Posted March 1, 2017 Share Posted March 1, 2017 (edited) Hi Dan, There are some non-hovering shots of Harriers around but, obviously, they're a bit less common than the "everything down" variety. The airbrake sits as flush as possible under the rear fuselage when fully retracted so you're not going to see the jack at all. You definitely won't need either of the kit jacks to show that configuration. Somewhere on this site you should be able to find a link to he Harrier SIG (Special Interest Group) site which should provide you with plenty of information. all the best, Steve. Edited March 1, 2017 by stever219 Superfluity 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danielwood5 Posted March 1, 2017 Author Share Posted March 1, 2017 Cheers guys, I figured it would probably be flush but I was hoping it would be some weird aerodynamic thing that meant it was better to have it slightly open cos the Airfix part is going to take some fettling to look right! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
71chally Posted March 1, 2017 Share Posted March 1, 2017 Yes it retracts flush in normal flight. My understanding of the two position jacks is the shorter one depicts the airbrake in take off /landing and taxying position, and the longer one for when it is deployed in full flight. After a period of being parked it would droop down beyond the short position. Your question is not unreasonable, especially when you consider that the Hunters airbrake is anything but flush to the fuselage, even when retracted 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nuuumannn Posted March 2, 2017 Share Posted March 2, 2017 Here's a pic of a GR.3 air brake, drooping, as mentioned above. You can see where the overlap on the fuselage is, as well as the down turned edges. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danielwood5 Posted March 3, 2017 Author Share Posted March 3, 2017 Cheers for the answers everyone, very useful. I think I'll have to get the sanding sticks out and see what I can do. That Warbirds Walkarounds website is great too, by the way, I can definitely see myself using that regularly! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julien Posted March 3, 2017 Share Posted March 3, 2017 Well we do have a couple of harrier walkarounds on here as well. http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234913728-hawker-siddeley-bae-sea-harrier/ http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/70835-hawker-siddeley-harrier-single-seater/ http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234964497-hawker-siddeley-harrier-twin-seater/ http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235005930-mcdonnell-douglas-british-aerospace-2nd-generation-harrier/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danielwood5 Posted March 4, 2017 Author Share Posted March 4, 2017 (edited) 16 hours ago, Julien said: Well we do have a couple of harrier walkarounds on here as well. http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234913728-hawker-siddeley-bae-sea-harrier/ http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/70835-hawker-siddeley-harrier-single-seater/ http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234964497-hawker-siddeley-harrier-twin-seater/ http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235005930-mcdonnell-douglas-british-aerospace-2nd-generation-harrier/ Thanks Julien, they're really useful, I hadn't explored the website to even discover the walkarounds section! Edited March 4, 2017 by danielwood5 spelling mistakes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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