Hawker P.V.4

infobox Aircraft
name =Hawker P.V.4
type =General-purpose bomber, reconnaissance and dive bomber
manufacturer =Hawker



caption =Hawker P.V.4
designer =Sydney Camm
first flight =6 December 1934
introduced =
retired =
status =
primary user =RAF (intended)
more users =
produced =
number built =1
unit cost =
variants with their own articles =Hawker Hart

The Hawker P.V.4 was a 1930s British biplane aircraft built by Hawker Aircraft in competition for a government order for a general-purpose military aircraft.

Design and development

In 1931, the British Air Ministry issued a specification for a "Standard General Purpose" aircraft (G.4/31). The duties was to include liaison, bombing (both day and night), dive bombing, torpedo bombing, and reconnaissance.

As none of the competing prototypes ordered for the competition could carry out all of the roles, and as individually aircraft of the Hawker Hart series could perform most of these duties, with the Hart having excellent handling in a dive,Mason, Francis K. "The British Bomber since 1914". London: Putnam Aeronautical Books, 1994. ISBN 0-85177-861-5.] Hawkers decided to base their entry on the Hind development of the Hart. They built the P.V.4 as a private venture ("i.e.", with their own money) as a two-place light bomber; although the bomb load of 570 lb was the same as the Hart, the reinforced fuselage and wings allowed the P.V.4 to dive with this load.

Testing

The P.V.4 was first flown from the Brooklands airfield on 6 December 1934 . The Bristol Pegasus III engine was initially used, but this was changed to the Pegasus X in 1935. In trials, it proved to be the only one of the competitors to be fully suitable for dive-bombing but, owing to its cross-axle undercarriage, could not carry a torpedo. The dive bombing duty was dropped from the specification, however, so the aircraft had little extra to offer and it lost out to the Vickers Wellesley monoplane which entered production.

Only one aircraft was built. This was eventually used for spinning tests, and then sent to Bristol Aeroplane to be used as an engine test bed, with several other engines being installed. The Finnish Air Force in the 1930s, evaluated different dive bombers including the Hawker P.V.4, eventually choosing the Fokker C.X light bomber. The sole P.V.4 prototype was struck off charge on 29 March 1939 .

Specification (with the Pegasus X engine)

aircraft specifications
plane or copter?=plane
jet or prop?=prop
ref="The British Bomber since 1914"
crew=2
capacity=
payload main=
payload alt=
length main= 29 ft 10 in
length alt= 9.09 m
span main= 40 ft
span alt= 12.19 m
height main= 11 ft 10 in
height alt= 3.61 m
area main= 348 ft²
area alt= 32.3 m²
airfoil=
empty weight main= 3,728 lb
empty weight alt= 1,691 kg
loaded weight main= 6,650 lb
loaded weight alt= 3,016 kg
useful load main=
useful load alt=
max takeoff weight main=
max takeoff weight alt=
more general=

engine (prop)= Bristol Pegasus X
type of prop= radial engine
number of props=1
power main= 820 hp
power alt= 612 kW
power original=
max speed main= 159 knots
max speed alt= 183 mph, 294.5 km/h
max speed more= at 6,650 ft (2,027 m)
cruise speed main=
cruise speed alt=
stall speed main=
stall speed alt=
never exceed speed main=
never exceed speed alt=
range main= 400 nm
range alt= 460 miles, 741 km
ceiling main= 23,700 ft
ceiling alt= 7,224 m
climb rate main=
climb rate alt=
loading main=19.1 lb/ft²
loading alt=93.4 kg/m²
thrust/weight=
power/mass main=0.123 hp/lb
power/mass alt=0.203 kW/kg
more performance=
armament=
* 1 x Vickers machine gun installed in the nose.
* 1 x Lewis gun mounted in the rear cockpit.
* 570 lb (258 kg) of bombs
avionics=

ee also

aircontent
related=

similar aircraft=
*Fairey G.4/31
*Handley Page H.P.47
*Parnall G.4/31
*Vickers G.4/31
*Vickers Wellesley
*Westland PV-7"

sequence=

lists=

see also=

References

Notes

Bibliography

* 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. "Hawker Aircraft since 1920." London: Putnam & Company, 3rd revised edition, 1991. ISBN 0-85177-839-9.
* Mason, Francis K. "The British Bomber since 1914". London: Putnam Aeronautical Books, 1994. ISBN 0-85177-861-5.

External links

* [http://www.britishaircraft.co.uk/aircraftpage.php?ID=499 British aircraft directory]