McDonnell-Douglas AV-8B Harrier II

[Joe Copalman]

HURRY UP AND WAIT

[trmphoto]

[Mike Margolis]

Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 211 (VMFA-211) "Wake Island Avengers" My dad flew A-4's for 17 years and was a member of this squadron for a few years.
Back in 1965, when he was in Chu Lai, Vietnam, he was the squadron maintenance officer and added the "barber pole" striping (from their patch) to the
rudders of the A-4E's. On the A-4's it was red and stuck with the squadron until the A-4M's were retired. They kept the rudder stripes (subdued) on the Harrier.
It's now gone on the F-35B's. (Correction posted above - the stripes are still there!)

WTI 2-16 Harrier departing YUM at sunset-7779 by Mike Margolis, on Flickr

[Joe Copalman]

Killer shot, Mike!

From what I've seen so far, VMFA-211 is carrying on the rudder stripe tradition, and they even have a hi-viz bird with white and red stripes.  Here's one from the VMFA-211 redesignation ceremony earlier this summer.  Look at how patched-together that Harrier looks!

[Mike Margolis]

Thanks Joe! You too!!
Thanks for that info... I'm going to have to review my local photos - not sure how I missed that.

[Joe Copalman]

Some of -211's aircraft (and their pilots) came from -121, so there might be some airframes with 'transitory' markings that aren't quite complete.  I didn't know this before, but VMFA-121 was deliberately assigned more aircraft and personnel than a standard F-35 unit so they could have a fully-trained cadre to split off and man VMFA-211 once they stood down as a Harrier unit.  It actually made for a pretty efficient and effective transition.

[Mike Margolis]

That makes sense - build up one squadron as they take deliveries and then split back apart when the time is right. I just looked though all my photos
and I have zero shots of an F-35 in VMFA-211 colors. I have hundreds in 121 markings though. Of course I have not shot much at all at the airport
since this summer began either. When I'm over there it's night and/or weekends and either no flying or obviously dark. Thanks Joe!! Now I have
something "new" (to me) to go shoot and share with my dad!! I will confirm his vintage story tomorrow and pass along any more details.

[Mike Margolis]

Ok, finally had a chance to talk to my dad about the A-4 tails, markings and colors. Over 17 years ('62-'79) my dad flew and took delivery of every model A-4 the Marines flew except the TA-4F or J - he never flew a two seat aircraft in the Marine Corps following flight school. He completed 100 combat missions in Vietnam in '64/'65. He said when the A model was built, McD had installed a normal sort of cover or skin on the rudder. When the B model was delivered, McD had removed the cover and left just the ribs as the outer flight control surface. They had found the skin or rib cover was not needed for strength on the rudder and in addition to reducing weight, it was more aerodynamic and made the rudder more effective. From the B model on, no other A-4's had the outer skin attached to the rudder. My dad was the XO of VMA-211 "Wake Island Avengers" in 1963 at MCAS El Toro. When they took delivery of the C models the "missing" skin on the rudder (as compared to the A models) looked strange. My dad had the idea to paint the "barber pole stripes" from their squadron patch on the rudder. And those stripes have been with the squadron ever since. As Joe kindly pointed out, the stripes are being applied to the F-35B's as they join VMFA-211. Since 1963 many units have painted stripes on their tails, but the first was VMA-211 at El Toro.

[Bjorn van der Flier]

one of my gateway Harrier shots I never had done before.

164142-WE-24 AV-8B VMA-214 by Bjorn van der Flier, on Flickr

[Anna M. Wood]

one of my gateway Harrier shots I never had done before.

Nicely done Bjorn....

[Bjorn van der Flier]

Thank you Anna.

[wingsnstuff]

Excellent Harrier shot Bjorn.  I think I may have captured a daylight image of this bird at NAF El Centro a few years ago.

[Mike Margolis]

AV-8B Harrier (VMA-311) departing MCAS Yuma at sunset

AV-8B Harrier VMA-311 departing YUM at sunset-0668 by Mike Margolis, on Flickr

[Chris V]

[tajmahal250]

Harriers really do look good in monochrome.


[/url]THE BLACK SHEEP by Thomas Backus, on Flickr[/img]