Standing beside IWM’s Harrier GR9, the second generation and last of the Harrier jump jets, Fighter Pilot Paul Tremelling tells us about the history of the Hawker-Siddeley Harrier, the world’s first fixed-wing vertical or short take-off and landing strike aircraft (VSTOL). Paul joined the Royal Navy in 1996 and flew the Sea Harrier on 800, 801 and 899 Naval Air Squadrons. Qualifying as an Air Warfare Instructor, he transitioned to the Harrier GR9 and served on the Naval Strike Wing, a unit where he became Senior Pilot. Selected for exchange duties with the USN, Tremelling flew F/A-18E Super Hornet with VFA-25, The Fist of The Fleet. In 2009, Paul even flew Harrier ZD461, the one he now stands beside, at RAF Spadeadam. This experience makes Paul the perfect guide to explain the development of the Harrier Jump Jet and why it was so well loved by pilots, with insight into what it was like to land on an aircraft carrier for the first time, how it was to switch between models and what it felt like to learn that the British government was retiring their Harrier fleet.

Meet Fighter Pilot Paul Tremelling at IWM History Festival as he tells us his story and experiences live on stage in Harrier: How to be a Fighter Pilot.
Tickets and sessions are selling fast. Saturday 25 March 2023. Learn more: https://bit.ly/3XciJJm

Paul Tremelling is the author of Harrier: How to be a Fighter Pilot – out now: https://t.co/zufROuprqz

ASSETS
Air to air footage of Harriers © Crown Copyright MoD
Footage of Harriers returning from Afghanistan and refuelling from an RAF VC10 © Crown Copyright MoD
Harriers in Afghanistan photos: © MoD https://www.defenceimagery.mod.uk/ and via https://www.dvidshub.net/image/796481
Harrier FA2 © Andrew P Clarke (D2180s at English Wikipedia)
Harrier FA2 front on © LA(PHOT) Billy Bunting via https://www.defenceimagery.mod.uk/
Harrier II underside © Jerry Gunner from Lincoln, UK
Harrier II cockpit: POA(Phot) Jonathan Hamlet, OGL v1.0OGL v1.0, via http://www.defenceimagery.mod.uk/foto...
FRS1 © USN - U.S. DefenseImagery photo VIRIN: DN-SC-87-05770
GR9 overhead view – Photo by Chris Lofting via airliners.net
Rolls-Royce Thrust Measuring Rig aka 'Flying Bedstead' - Photo by User:geni, CC BY-SA 4.0
'Flying Bedstead' in flight via "Golden Anniversary for VTOL" by Erasmo Piñero, Jr. Vertiflite, Fall 2004 (page 50).
RAF Spadeadam aerial shot via VisitCumbria.com
Harrier firing CRV7 rockets © Magellan Aerospace