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AV-8B NA vs. GR.7/9 Nozzles


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Shapewise they look the same to me, but colorwise they are different. On Marine Harriers the front nozzles are the fuselage color and the rear nozzles resemble a dark steel metal tone. One RAF Harriers all nozzles seem to be dark metal colored.

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That's what I'm doing. I'm pretty sure there isn't any difference between the to jets in that part of the airframe.

I thought the nozzles were integral parts of the engine, not the airframe. IOW if they share the same engine they share the same nozzles.

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Shapewise they look the same to me, but colorwise they are different. On Marine Harriers the front nozzles are the fuselage color and the rear nozzles resemble a dark steel metal tone. One RAF Harriers all nozzles seem to be dark metal colored.

Note that the front nozzles are not "exhausts". They blow air that's redirected before it gets mixed with the fuel and burnt (I think it's still pretty hot, though). Generally there's no reason not to paint them in whatever colour is appropriate for the aircraft. However, it does appear to be the case that RAF/RN Harriers typically (but not always) had the front nozzles in a bare metal finish, thus appearing similar to the rear nozzles. I don't know if the front nozzles are actually "unpainted" or are actually painted in a metallic finish. In most photos I could find they appear as a light-coloured metal, while some others (e.g., Spanish aircraft) have them in a very dark metal.

Hmm. A bit more digging indicated that RAF 1st-gen Harriers almost always did have the front nozzles painted, usually dark green. Sometimes (?) the port nozzle (only) was painted dark sea gray. The nozzles were interchangeable, so on some aircraft, at certain times, they'd have a gray nozzle on a green section of fuselage, and vice-versa on the other side! You'd need specific photos of specific subjects at a particular time-and-date to know for sure. I have no idea what the painting policies for 2nd-gen aircraft were. 1st-gen aircraft that appear to have unpainted front nozzles may represent a high degree of wear-and-tear? The air coming through those front nozzles is going to be hot and at a high pressure, you'd imagine that over time there'd be some sort of discoloration effect!

Only the rear nozzles are exhausts in the traditional sense, which is why they don't get painted. They invariably take on a normal burnt-metal appearance. You'll note that only the rear nozzles have a "blast shield" protecting the sides of the fuselage.

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