44:45
What was your reaction when you sat in the cockpit and flew it for the first time? I thought this thing just got It had so much acceleration for when you threw the throttle forward. Just so much acceleration. You went from 0 to 120 in about 7 or 8 seconds. And then you rotated the nozzles down and then you were flying and you rotated them out and accelerated away. Great. I just thought it was the best thing in the world. Still think that. The AV-8A Harrier, the first fully operational VSTOL vertical short takeoff landing attack and fighter aircraft in the free world, is now four rotatable nozzles, two on
each side of the aircraft utilized, can be rotated through an arc of 100° by a single lever in the cockpit. The Marine Corps has had a long-standing requirement for an aircraft such as the Harrier to provide essential close air support during all phases of amphibious operations. The Harrier, with its unique basing flexibility, ensures continuous, responsive, and survivable The Harrier is the first of a new generation of tactical aircraft. In the air, maneuverability, its small size, and fighter performance make Harrier a difficult target for enemy gunners. With Harrier in the Fleet Marine Forces, Marine Aviation is better equipped than ever before to support the landing forces in the attainment of our national objective.
I'll never forget the day I first was able to fly V model, so single seat, by myself. And came after a ways of training, but rewarding for sure. It was designed to be able to hop through Europe. We needed something that could go into a smaller area, potentially in the woods. You know, land vertically, rearm, and take off vertically, and go fight. And that was the concept the British came up with. We bought into that, we being the Marine Corps. We're able to continue kind of that concept throughout landing on the LHD and LHA. Maybe ships only 800 ft long, right? We always come in and land vertically.
You can take off vertically as well. And follow on, you know, it was a requirement for one of the models of the F-35 to be able to do the same thing on those LHA LHD ships. Uh the concept still proves valid today. From the mountains of Afghanistan to the desert of Iraq, and even along before that in the conflict of the Middle East and through the '80s and '70s as the aircraft was being developed, we've been able to maintain that relevance. Even now as we speak, we're currently in the process of redeploying our last ever Harrier deployment.
Operating the AV-8B from the MEU, specifically from the ship Iwo Jima, it's incredibly demanding. High tempo, very little work space, very little room on the deck. Uh we're sharing it with other type model series of aircraft. This isn't just a normal rotation for us, isn't a normal uh deployment. This is the last deployment of uh this incredible platform. We're representing, you know, over 50 years of the Harrier just being AV-8A and then it's the AV-8B. We're wrapping up a big legacy for the Harrier and every maintainer, every admin marine, every pilot knows this.
It was in many ways a groundbreaking triumph for the Marine Corps and Naval Aviation. Most of the carriers that we worked off of, like the Nassau and the Saipan, they all had flight decks of about 850 ft long, but we only needed about 300 ft to take off with what we call a short takeoff. You know, we are the benchmark for expeditionary air power in operating from the ship. Uh and then the big thing is, you know, we provide that benchmark for close air support and delivering customer support for the marine on the deck, you know, on time, on target, and make sure we're keeping those guys where they need to be.
The flight gun sight projected on the windscreen deliver a wide variety of ordnance. To many memories to explain, but uh you know definitely has a special place in my life. So, I'll never forget. You know, I'll continue to tell those stories. Yeah, just proud to be a part of this team and uh excited for the first week of June when we welcome back uh our Harrier uh our team Harrier nation over all the years, many decades of folks are coming back. And so, tried to uh send down this aircraft in a way that makes everybody proud is what our goal's been for a long time now. So, excited to do it.
I want [bell]
