Hawker Hotspur

infobox Aircraft
name =Hotspur
type =Fighter
manufacturer =Hawker



caption =Hawker Hotspur (BAE Systems photo)
designer = Sydney Camm
first flight =14 June 1938
introduced =
retired =
status =
primary user = Royal Air Force(intended)
more users =
produced =
number built = 1
unit cost =
variants with their own articles = (Derivative of Hawker Henley)The Hawker Hotspur was a Hawker Henley redesigned to take a Boulton-Paul semi-powered four gun turret. It was designed in response to Air Ministry Specification F.9/35, which required a powered turret as the main armament to replace the Hawker Demon. [Hannah 1982, p. 47.] [James 1973, p. 82.]

Design and development

In the same fashion as the Henley, the Hotspur utilised standard Hurricane outer wing panels. [http://www.aviastar.org/air/england/hawker_hotspur.php Hawker Hotspur 1938] ] One prototype aircraft, "K8309", was built in 1937, fitted with armament of four 0.303 in (7.7 mm) Brownings in a B-P dorsal turret plus one Vickers gun mounted in the front fuselage. [ [http://www.jaapteeuwen.com/ww2aircraft/html%20pages/HAWKER%20HOTSPUR.htm Hawker Hotspur] ] The completion of the prototype was delayed until 1938, by which time the rival Boulton Paul Defiant had already flown. The Hotspur first flew on 14 June 1938 with only a wooden mock-up of the turret and with ballast equivalent to the weight of armament.

Testing and evaluation

As Hawker was committed to the production of Henleys and Hurricanes the project was abandoned. The mock-up turret was removed and a cockpit fairing installed. Planned production by Avro to Specification 17/36 was abandoned and the prototype, with turret removed, served at the RAE Farnborough on miscellaneous test programmes of flap and dive brake configurations until 1942.

pecifications (Hotspur)

aircraft specifications
plane or copter?= plane
jet or prop?= prop
ref= Hawker Aircraft since 1920 [Mason 1991 ]
crew= Two (pilot & gunner)
capacity=
length main=32 ft 10½ in
length alt= 10.02 m
span main= 40 ft 6 in
span alt= 12.34 m
height main= 13 ft 10 in
height alt= 4.22 m
area main= 342 ft² Mason 1992, p. 270.]
area alt= 31.8 m²
airfoil=
empty weight main= 5,800 lb
empty weight alt= 2,630 kg
loaded weight main=
loaded weight alt=
useful load main=
useful load alt=
max takeoff weight main= 7,650 lb
max takeoff weight alt= 3,470 kg
more general=

engine (prop)= Rolls-Royce Merlin II hp
type of prop= V-12 inline piston engine
number of props= 1
power main= 1,030 hp
power alt= 768 kW
power original=

max speed main= 275 knots
max speed alt= 316 mph, 510 km/h
cruise speed main=
cruise speed alt=
never exceed speed main=
never exceed speed alt=
stall speed main=
stall speed alt=
range main=
range alt=
ceiling main= 28,000 ft
ceiling alt= 8,500 m
climb rate main=
climb rate alt=
loading main=
loading alt=
thrust/weight=
power/mass main=
power/mass alt=
more performance=
armament=
* 4 × .303 in (7.7 mm) Browning machine guns in a Boulton-Paul turret.
* 1 × Vickers machine gun in nose
avionics=

ee also

aircontent
related=
* Hawker Henley
similar aircraft=
* Boulton Paul Defiant
* Blackburn Roc
lists=
* List of aircraft of the RAF
* List of fighter aircraft
see also=

References

Notes

Bibliography

* Brew, Alex. "The Turret Fighters - Defiant and Roc". Ramsbury, Marlborough, Wiltshire, UK: Crowood Press, 2002. ISBN 1-86126-497-6.
* Hannah, Donald. "Hawker FlyPast Reference Library". Stamford, Lincolnshire, UK: Key Publishing Ltd., 1982. ISBN 0-946219-01-X.
* James, Derek N. "Hawker, an Aircraft Album No. 5". New York: Arco Publishing Company, 1973. ISBN 0-668-02699-5. (First published in the UK by Ian Allan in 1972.)
* Mason, Francis K. "The British Fighter since 1912". Annapolis, MD: US Naval Institute Press, 1992. ISBN 1-55750-082-7.
* Mason, Francis K. "Hawker Aircraft since 1920". Annapolis, MD: US Naval Institute Press, 1991. ISBN 1-55750-351-6. (3rd US edition, originally published in the UK by Putnam Aeronautical Books in 1961 and 1971)

External links

* [http://www.britishaircraft.co.uk/aircraftpage.php?ID=501 British Aircraft Directory]
* [http://www.jaapteeuwen.com/ww2aircraft/html%20pages/HAWKER%20HOTSPUR.htm Hawker Hotspur]