JW411
My mind has a complete blank about RAF probs at Sao Paulo. I did not arrive there in G-VTOL until the evening of 14 Sept having been quite busy at Rio for several days so perhaps I just did not have the spare horsepower to take in the RAF doings and it sounds as if you had left before I arrived.
You are right that no South American country bought the Harrier. The Navies of Brazil and Argentina were keenest. Indeed a year or two earlier I had flown from the Argentine 25th De Mayo in a single seater when the ship was on its delivery voyage from Holland down the English Channel. As always traditional navy operators were staggered at the ease of flying Harrier to and from the deck, especially the way the aircraft was self contained and needed no ‘yellow gear’ (flight deck ground equipment). However our price was so much more than the second hand A-4s from the USN that they inevitably went with the A-4. Given what happened 10 years later perhaps things turned out for the best.
Two points stand out in my memory about the Sao Paolo display (the first of its kind in South America). At the end of the pre-display brief to a very impressive room full of international display folk from all over the place I realised I had not hoisted in the min display height. So during question time I asked what it was and was told by the briefer “Don’t hit the ground”. We Farnborough/Paris European type mates looked at each other and as we left decided we were going to use 50ft.
The other memory I have was later in the week when I was in our chalet and somebody stuck his head and said “Come and see this”. This was a lad in an aerobatic light aircraft (a Decathlon) who was going up and down the display runway doing rolls and getting lower and lower. Somebody said his slot had finished several minutes earlier but he was refusing ATC’s order to land. After watching a couple more passes I said that I thought he intended to commit suicide and I was not going to stay and watch the inevitable. Back in the chalet some minutes later I heard the expected sounds as he went in. Sad.
Sorry – I went off on one.
Last edited by John Farley; 14th Feb 2013 at 16:30.