Hawker Aircraft

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Hawker Aircraft Limited
IndustryAviation
PredecessorSopwith Aviation Company
Sopwith Aviation & Engineering Company
Founded1920; 101 years ago (1920) (as H G Hawker Engineering)
Defunct1963; 58 years ago (1963)
FateMerged into Hawker Siddeley Group
SuccessorHawker Siddeley
Headquarters
Kingston upon Thames, Greater London
,
United Kingdom
Number of locations
Langley; Dunsfold; Blackpool, United Kingdom
Key people
Harry Hawker
Thomas Sopwith
Sydney Camm
SubsidiariesGloster Aircraft Company (1934)

Hawker Aircraft Limited was a British aircraft manufacturer responsible for some of the most famous products in British aviation history.

History[]

See also: Hawker Siddeley

Hawker had its roots in the aftermath of the First World War, which resulted in the bankruptcy of the Sopwith Aviation Company. Sopwith test pilot Harry Hawker and three others, including Thomas Sopwith, bought the assets of Sopwith and formed H.G. Hawker Engineering in 1920.[1]

In 1933 the company was renamed Hawker Aircraft Limited, and it took advantage of the Great Depression and a strong financial position to purchase the Gloster Aircraft Company in 1934. The next year it merged with the engine and automotive company Armstrong Siddeley and its subsidiary, Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft, to form Hawker Siddeley Aircraft. This group also encompassed A. V. Roe and Company (Avro).

Hawker Aircraft continued to produce designs under its own name as part of Hawker Siddeley Aircraft, from 1955 a division of Hawker Siddeley Group. The "Hawker" brand name was dropped, along with those of the sister companies, in 1963; the Hawker P.1127 was the last aircraft to carry the brand.

The Hawker legacy was maintained by the American company Raytheon who produced business jets (including some derived from the 125, whose original design dated back to de Havilland days) under the "Hawker" name. This was the result of purchasing British Aerospace's product line in 1993. The name was also used by Hawker Beechcraft after Raytheon's business jet interests (Hawker and Beechcraft) were acquired by investors and merged.

Products[]

Hurricane Mk.I

The first Hawker design was the unbuilt Hawker Humpback of December 1920.[2] This was soon followed by the Hawker Duiker, the first prototype, which flew in July 1923.[3] In the interwar years, Hawker produced a successful line of bombers and fighters for the Royal Air Force, the product of Sydney Camm (later Sir Sydney) and his team. These included the Hawker Hind and the Hawker Hart, which became the most produced UK aeroplane in the years before the Second World War.[4]

During the Second World War, the Hawker Siddeley company was one of the United Kingdom's most important aviation concerns, producing numerous designs including the famous Hawker Hurricane fighter plane that, along with the Supermarine Spitfire, was instrumental in winning the Battle of Britain. During the battle, Hawker Hurricanes in service outnumbered all other British fighters combined, and were responsible for shooting down 55 percent of all enemy aircraft destroyed.[citation needed]

Hawker Hunter F.58 (UK code ZZ190, ex-Swiss Air Force)) of Hawker Hunter Aviation arrives at the 2018 RIAT, England

List[]

Projects[]

Source: Hannah (1982)[7]

  • Hawker P.1000
  • Hawker P.1004
  • Hawker P.1005
  • Hawker P.1007
  • Hawker P.1008
  • Hawker P.1014
  • Hawker P.1017
  • Hawker P.1021
  • Hawker P.1025
  • Hawker P.1027
  • Hawker P.1028
  • Hawker P.1029
  • Hawker P.1030
  • Hawker P.1031
  • Hawker P.1037
  • Hawker P.1041
  • Hawker P.1044
  • Hawker P.1048
  • Hawker P.1049
  • Hawker P.1050
  • Hawker P.1051
  • Hawker P.1053
  • Hawker P.1054
  • Hawker P.1055
  • Hawker P.1056
  • Hawker P.1057
  • Hawker P.1058
  • Hawker P.1063
  • Hawker P.1064
  • Hawker P.1065
  • Hawker P.1069
  • Hawker P.1070
  • Hawker P.1071
  • Hawker P.1073
  • Hawker P.1077
  • Hawker P.1079
  • Hawker P.1082
  • Hawker P.1084
  • Hawker P.1085
  • Hawker P.1088
  • Hawker P.1089
  • Hawker P.1092
  • Hawker P.1093
  • Hawker P.1096
  • Hawker P.1098
  • Hawker P.1103 1950s interceptor project
  • Hawker P.1104
  • Hawker P.1106
  • Hawker P.1107
  • Hawker P.1108
  • Hawker P.1121 late 1950s fighter project
  • Hawker P.1124
  • Hawker P.1125
  • Hawker P.1126
  • Hawker P.1128
  • Hawker P.1129
  • Hawker P.1131
  • Hawker P.1132
  • Hawker P.1134
  • Hawker P.1136
  • Hawker P.1137
  • Hawker P.1139
  • Hawker P.1141
  • Hawker P.1143
  • Hawker P.1149
  • Hawker P.1152
  • Hawker P.1214

Key people[]

Harry Hawker in May 1919

Aircraft designers and engineers[]

Chief Test Pilots[]

See also[]

References[]

Citations[]

  1. ^ Mason 1991, p. 11.
  2. ^ Mason 1991, p. 638.
  3. ^ Mason 1991, p. 100.
  4. ^ Mason 1991, p. 221.
  5. ^ Hannah 1982, p. 15.
  6. ^ James 1973, p. 15.
  7. ^ Donald Hannah, Flypast Reference Library - Hawker, Key Publishing 1982

Bibliography[]

  • Buttler, Tony (2017). British Secret Projects : Jet Fighters since 1950 ( 2nd edition) (Hardback). Manchester: Crecy Publishing. ISBN 978-1-910-80905-1.
  • Hannah, Donald (1982). Hawker FlyPast Reference Library. Stamford, Lincolnshire, UK: Key Publishing Ltd. ISBN 0-946219-01-X..
  • James, Derek N. (1973) [First published in the UK by Ian Allan in 1972]. Hawker, an Aircraft Album No. 5. New York: Arco Publishing Company. ISBN 0-668-02699-5.
  • Mason, Francis K. (1991). Hawker Aircraft since 1920 (3rd revised edition). London: Putnam & Company. ISBN 0-85177-839-9..

External links[]

  • Hawker – British Aircraft Directory
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