Military icons on way to Falklands museum

HARRIER JUMP JET AND LYNX HELICOPTER EMBARK BY SEA

- HERALD REPORTER

TWO Royal Navy aircraft are to become centrepieces of a new museum in the Falklands – after completing the long journey by sea.

A retired Sea Harrier jump jet and Lynx helicopter are being transferred 8,000 miles to the South Atlantic as islanders create an exhibition dedicated to the men and women who liberated the Falklands from Argentinian rule in 1982.

The museum in the islands’ capital, Stanley, has an existing gallery recounting the story of the conflict, but is expanding and adding a new hall for larger exhibits – including the two veteran aircraft.

Neither are able to fly to the Falklands, or be transported by air, so sea is the only option. The military’s experts in such delicate moves – the Joint Aircraft Recovery and Transportation Squadron (JARTS), a combined RN-RAF unit at Boscombe Down, in Wiltshire – were called in by RNAS Yeovilton in Somerset to disassemble the Harrier and transport the special load-up the A303 back to their base. Overseeing the move for JARTS is Chief Petty Officer Stewart Wright – a former Harrier engineer who maintained the aircraft at sea and on land, including tours of duty in Afghanistan.