Airfix 18001V Hawker Siddeley Harrier GR1

Part of the vintage classics range of Airfix kits.  Boxes feature original paintings by an impressive range of artists.

One of the most significant aircraft in the history of aviation, the Hawker Sidderley Harrier GR.1 was developed from the Hawker P.1127 experimental aircraft produced to test the possibilities of V/STOL vectored thrust flight.  These aircraft successfully mastered the transition from hovering to forward flight and back to hover.

Entering RAF service in April 1969, the operational flexibility of the Harrier GR.1 ensured the aircraft never found itself too far away from potential conflict hotspots.  Not confined to operating from military airfields, Harriers could be concealed in forest clearings or dispersed to sections of motorways, keeping their location concealed.