Aircraft - Aviation - Balloons - Helicopters
1969 - R.A.F. makes first ever Landing in London with fixed-wing Jet.: The first landing in the hear of London by a fixed- wing jet aircraft was made today when a Royal Air Force Harrier GRI landed vertically on a specially prepared'pad at Somers Town High, in St. Pancras. The Hawker Sidddeley jump-jet Harier, piloted by Squadron Leader RTOM Lecky-Thompson, 34, of Salisbury, Wilts, landed at Somer Town High, a disused coal-yard near St. Pancras Station, in preparation for a dash to Manhattan in the heat of New York as a competitor in the Daily Mail Transatlantic Air Race next week. The Harrier, which is now entering service with the R.A.F. Support Command, is the world's first fixed-wing vertical/short take-off and landing close support aircraft. Photo shows The'jump-jet Harrier raises a cloud of coal dust - as it came in to land today
