Open Cockpit: Vertical Flight Weekend – AV-8C Harrier

Vertical Flight: AV-8C Hawker Harrier

The June Open Cockpit weekend features the AV-8C Harrier! The Harrier is a British plane, famous for its rotating exhaust nozzles that allow thrust to be directed straight down for vertical takeoff and landing. It can take off with a short forward takeoff run while carrying a full load. Take a look in the cockpit and let our crew point out the unique controls that allow Harrier pilots to hover, rise straight up, move sideways, and scoot backward. This aircraft is on loan from the National Naval Aviation Museum at Pensacola, Florida. Open Cockpit weekends at the Pacific Coast Air Museum are your chance to get up close to selected aircraft and look inside. We raise the canopies and open the doors to give you an unobstructed view so you can see what a genuine fighter plane, attack plane, transport, helicopter, or other type is like from the inside!