Hawker Aircraft

Infobox Defunct Company
company_name = Hawker Aircraft Limited
company_logo =
fate = Merged into Hawker Siddeley Group
successor = Hawker Siddeley
foundation = 1920 (as H G Hawker Engineering)
defunct = 1963
location = Kingston; Langley; Dunsfold; Blackpool, England, UK
industry = Aviation
key_people = Harry Hawker, Thomas Sopwith, Sydney Camm
products =
num_employees =
parent =
subsid = Gloster Aircraft Company (1934)

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

History

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.

In 1933 the company was renamed Hawker Aircraft Limited and 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 a part of the Hawker Siddeley Aircraft, from 1955 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 branded as "Hawker".

The Hawker legacy was maintained by the American company Raytheon who produced business jets (including some derived from the BAe 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 is currently used by Hawker Beechcraft after Raytheon's business jet interests (Hawker and Beechcraft) were acquired by investors and merged together.

Products

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 airplane in the years before the Second World War.

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.)

List

* Hawker Duiker 1923 "prototype" First original design by Hawker, 1 aircraft built, J6918 [Hannah 1982, p. 15.] [James 1973, p. 15.]
*Hawker Woodcock 1923
*Hawker Cygnet 1924
*Hawker Hedgehog 1924 "prototype"
*Hawker Horsley 1925
*Hawker Heron 1925
*Hawker Hornbill 1925
*Hawker Danecock 1925
*Hawker Harrier 1927 "prototype"
*Hawker Hawfinch 1927
*Hawker Hart 1928
*Hawker F.20/27 1928 "prototype"
*Hawker Hoopoe 1928
*Hawker Tomtit 1928
*Hawker Hornet 1929
*Hawker Osprey 1929
*Hawker Nimrod 1930
*Hawker Fury 1931
*Hawker Audax 1931
*Hawker Demon 1933
*Hawker P.V.3 1934 "prototype"
*Hawker Hardy 1934
*Hawker Hind 1934
*Hawker P.V.4 1934 "prototype"
*Hawker Hartbees 1935
*Hawker Hurricane 1935
** Hawker Hurricane variants
*Hawker Hector 1936
*Hawker Henley 1937
*Hawker Hotspur 1938
*Hawker Tornado 1939
*Hawker Typhoon 1940
*Hawker Tempest 1942
*Hawker Sea Fury 1944
*Hawker Sea Hawk 1947
*Hawker P.1052 1948 "Prototype"
*Hawker P.1081 1950 "Prototype"
*Hawker P.1072 1950 "Prototype"
*Hawker Hunter 1951
**Hawker Hunter/Variants
*Hawker P.1127 1960 "Prototype"

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.

External links

* [http://www.britishaircraft.co.uk/companypage.php?ID=5 British Aircraft Directory entry]

ee also