Fleet Air Arm Museum take delivery of rare two-seater Harrier T8

The Fleet Air Arm Museum in Yeovilton have taken delivery of a rare two-seater Harrier T8 training aircraft, adding to the Museum's collection of VSTOL (vertical, short take-off and landing) aircraft.

The Museum now owns what is probably the world's largest collection of VSTOL aircraft and associated exhibits including the prototype Hawker P.1127, two Sea Harriers the FRS1 and FA2 and a Harrier GR9.

Two of the aircraft took part in the Falklands War in 1982 and one saw action in Afghanistan in 2010.

In addition to the five Harrier variants, the Museum displays two engines, the Pegasus and a rare Bristol Siddeley 100 'Super Harrier' engine which was not put into service.

The history of the development of VSTOL aircraft is vividly displayed in the Museum where the interactive screens contain archive footage of the early 'Flying bedstead' which proved the viability of vertical take-off and landing in the 1950s