AV-8B Harrier II - The U.S. Marine Corps' VSTOL Jet Aircraft

When the Harrier entered Royal Air Force service in 1969, it became the first operational military fixed-wing aircraft capable of vertical/short takeoff and landing (V/STOL). The U.S. Marine saw the strike fighter’s potential and bought more than 100 of the initial generation of the Harrier and designated it the AV-8A. In the 1970s, McDonnell Douglas worked with British Aerospace to redevelop the aircraft leading to the AV-8B Harrier II.

The jump jet’s second generation in American service is the focus of Ken Neubeck’s AV-8B Harrier II — The U.S. Marine Corps’ VSTOL Jet Aircraft. Part of Schiffer’s Legends of Warfare Aviation series, the lavishly illustrated 112-page hardcover opens with a review of early V/STOL aircraft research and a quick history of the Harrier’s British evolution, followed by a brief history of the AV-8A in USMC service. After a chapter covering the development of the AV-8B and a few photos of second-gen Harriers in RAF colors, the book looks at the details of USMC AV-8Bs, including photos of the engine, rotating nozzles, cockpit, ejection seat, weapons, refueling probe, and more.

Other chapters illustrate the nine Marine Harrier squadrons — good if you are looking to model a specific unit — and show the AV-8B in combat operations in Kuwait, Kosovo, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Libya — pages filled with tons of modeling inspiration.

-FineScale Modeler Editor, Aaron Skinner