posted on Aug, 3 2006 @ 04:23 AM
The wingtips were detachable items and were known as 'ferry tips' which were only used when the Harrier was being flown longer than usual distances,
that is why they are shown as a dotted line on the drawing.
I don't know why they couldn't be permanently fitted, maybe they had an adverse effect on roll rate?
The Sea Harrier FA.2 was designed with these tips as standard, after the earlier design with wingtip missile rails for Sidewinders was dropped.
Heres a picture I have edited to show you what I just wrote about, the top silhouette is the FRS.1, the lower one is the FA.2 as it was built, showing
the new tips as well as new nose etc. The bottom pict is the artists impression of the FA.2 (then to be called FRS.2) when the project was launched in
1987. As can be seen, apart from the wingtip missile rails it was also intended to use the LERX and zero scarf front nozzles from the GR.5/AV-8B
versions. I was disappointed when it flew without these features.
[edit on 3-8-2006 by waynos]