The Hickory Aviation Museum has received the McDonnell Douglas TAV-8B Harrier II, serial number 164122, this week. The jet is now on permanent display at the Hickory Regional Airport. It is on loan from the National Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola, FL. The jet was last seen at the Harrier Sunset Ceremony at MCAS Cherry Point, NC, on June 3, 2026. During the ceremony, it participated in a flyover with four other aircraft and took part in a brief demonstration by VMA-223 “Bulldogs.” All five jets hovered together, landed, and taxied to the flightline, shutting down their engines for the final time.
With no more flights available, the team planned to take the aircraft apart and transport it by truck to Hickory Regional Airport, where the museum is located. On October 13, the fuselage was loaded onto one trailer, facing backward because it was long, and the wing section went onto a second trailer. The fuselage left and reached Hickory after dark. The museum team returned to Cherry Point to prepare the wings to leave the next morning. On October 14, with a pilot car leading the way, the truck carrying the wings left and arrived in Hickory the next afternoon after a smooth five-hour trip.
Meanwhile, the museum crew worked with Skeets Wrecker Service to lift the fuselage off the truck and set it on aircraft jackstands, preparing for reassembly. As soon as the wings arrived, workers removed them from the transport frames and lifted them into position with a crane. As night set in, they manually lowered the landing gear, attached the tail and horizontal stabilizers, and finished the main assembly before midnight. On October 15, the team of active and former Marines, along with museum volunteers, finished assembling the jet. The McDonnell Douglas TAV-8B Harrier II is now showcased alongside a single-seat Harrier II Plus, BuNo 164560, which arrived at the museum in mid-2024, and a Harrier engine to honor the Harrier community and its contribution to the State of North Carolina and the United States Marine Corps. For more information about the Hickory Aviation Museum, visit www.hickoryaviationmuseum.org.
