Harrier 809

Harrier 809 is aviation historian, Roland White's, fascinating and previously untold story about the formation of a new Sea Harrier squadron, 809 Naval Air Squadron (NAS) in the opening weeks of the Falklands War. 

With all the available Sea Harriers and aircrew having already set sail for the Falklands, Lieutenant Commander, Tim Gedge, left behind to look after operations in the UK, was tasked with building a new squadron, seemingly out of nothing. While he arranged to withdraw spare aircraft from test facilities and requested BAe to speed up its production line, pilots were recalled from exchange tours with global allies; some would end up being sent into action with fewer than ten hours in the cockpit of a Sea Harrier, less frontline training than was given to a Spitfire or Hurricane pilot in WWII. The reason for this urgency, was the expectation that the high rate of attrition of the unproven Sea Harrier, pitched against the Argentine's combat hardened Mirage III and Skyhawks, would prevent Britain gaining vital air superiority over the Islands, and leave the Task Force unprotected, at the mercy of the Daggers and Exocet carrying Super Étendards!

Hasegawa's Sea Harrier kit came with both ladder and in-flight refuelling probe

Extra dark sea grey camouflage scheme used by 800 & 801 NAS and the Barley Grey of 809 NAS

As the 8 randomly sourced Sea Harriers started to arrive at RNAS Yeovilton, Weapons Training Instructor (WTI) Bill Covington, recently recalled from an assignment with the US Marines' Harrier force, noted that while they may have been in various states of repair, they all shared the same gloss dark sea grey and gleaming white undersides that was the standard livery for the Navy's Sea Harriers. Camouflage it was not and while he had been tasked with getting the Squadron prepared with weapons and tactics training, his first consideration was to get the aircraft looking more suited to the theatre they were deploying to. Mr Philip J Barley of the Defensive Weapons Department, Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE), Farnborough was recalled from his Easter holidays to assist. In the 1970s the MOD would run camouflage trails using full sized aircraft. In the 1980s, however, there was no budget for such extravagance and so Barley and Bert, the RAE's model-maker, had to make do with building a number of Airfix kits! Coincidentally, Airfix's only contemporary 1:24 scale model jet, was the Hawker Harrier. Once constructed and painted each were used to trial the effectiveness of new camouflage schemes. The final decision was for a simple, overall light grey scheme, 'Barley Grey', with red and blue national marking toned down to salmon pink and powder blue. To complete the look, using the same pastel colours and added to all the aircraft's tail, was 809's original squadron crest, dating back to 1941, the Phoenix.

Salmon pink and powder blue national markings and 809 NAS Phoenix crest

Lieutenant Commander, Tim Gedge, prepares for Quick Reaction Alert 

As the Task Force's only 2 available aircraft carriers had already set sail for the Falklands, 809 Squadron's pilots had to first fly themselves to the Ascension Islands. Here they met up with the repurposed container ship, Atlantic Conveyor, which had already been loaded with a cargo of six Wessex helicopters from 848 NAS and five RAF Chinook helicopters. After precariously landing the eight 809 Squadron Sea Harriers and six RAF Harrier GR.3 jump jets, 809 Squadron then kept a Sea Harrier on Quick Reaction Alert during Atlantic Conveyor’s journey south. After a vertical take-off, it was calculated that it was capable of shooting down the shadowing Argentinian reconnaissance 707 airliner at a maximum range of 183 miles. London even had a pre-prepared press release written in anticipation of this happening. There would however, be no guarantee that the Harrier would be able to land back onto Atlantic Conveyor. It would most likely be a one way trip for the pilot and he would have to hope he could safely eject and be rescued from the sea! Fortunately the 707 had been warned off by London's threat, that should it reappear, it would, without warning, be shot down.

Sea Harrier on Quick Reaction Alert during Atlantic Conveyor’s journey south

Once the Atlantic Conveyor joined up with the aircraft carriers, HMS Hermes and HMS Invincible, off the Falkland Islands, 809 Squadron's Sea Harriers were divided up between Lieutenant Commander Andy Auld's 800 squadron and Commander Sharkey Ward's 801 squadron. It is said that Sharkey suggested that 809's Barley grey was the wrong colour and their aircraft should all be repainted in extra dark sea grey used by both Auld's and Sharkey's squadrons. Gedge, however, is reported to have responded that it was actually 800 and 801's scheme which was wrong, in that Barley Grey was the new camouflage especially created by the RAE! The Barley Grey was reluctantly allowed to remain, but as there were insufficient aircraft for more than one Sea Harrier squadron on each carrier, 809's Phoenix had to go. While Auld's and Sharkey's original Sea Harriers, because of their dark colour scheme, were dubbed by Argentine pilots “La Muerta Negra” (The Black Death), it is interesting that following the conflict it is the lighter grey and pastel markings that became the more typical camouflage to be seen adorning military aircraft. After all, the objective of camouflage is not to be seen, which it would appear, Mr Philip J Barley's experiments with the Airfix models achieved!

Hasegawa's 1:72 kit of the FRS Mk.1

For this Sea Harrier build I used Hasegawa's 1:72 kit of the FRS Mk.1, which I specifically purchased because it included the 809 squadron markings, however, the Royal Navy lettering supplied for the tail was in black typeface and not the pastel blue used when they flew to Ascension Islands. So, I had to use a set of the later 'Barley Grey' decals that came with the ESCI Sea Harrier kit I built last week. Even though they are, however, a little too dark, they are least the right colour! The ESCI kit also had a nice set of pastel blue and pink warning decals which for some reason Hasegawa had totally omitted from their kit! Just shows that it pays to hoard old decals. 

The Hasegawa kit's superior interior 

One other dislike of the Hasegawa kit is the way the wings slot into the fuselage. Italeri and ESCI have a complete top wing section making for a much nicer fit, while both Hasegawa and Airfix seem to share the traditional separate wing configuration. On the flip side though, Hasegawa's Martin Baker ejection seat is far superior to any of the other 3 companies provide, and even included a piece of glass for the HUD, leaving me inspired to go to town on the cockpit area!

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The Model

Brand: Hasegawa
Title: Sea Harrier FRS Mk.1
Number: 01235 (Also listed as B5)
Scale: 1:72
Type: Full kit
Released: 2008 | Rebox (Changed box only)

The Book