Hawker Aircraft

Industry Aviation

Successor: Hawker Siddeley
Founded: 1920 (as H G Hawker Engineering)
Defunct: 1963
Headquarters: Kingston; Langley; Dunsfold; Blackpool, England, UK
Key people: Harry Hawker, Thomas Sopwith, Sydney Camm
Subsidiaries: 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

Picture - Hurricane Mk.I

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.

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

This transport-related list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

Hawker Duiker 1923 prototype First original design by Hawker, 1 aircraft built, J6918
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
Operators of Hawker Hart and variants
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 Fury variants
Hawker Audax 1931
Hawker Dantorp1932
Hawker Demon 1933
Hawker P.V.3 1934 prototype
Hawker Hardy 1934
Hawker Hind 1934
Hawker Hind variants
Hawker P.V.4 1934 prototype
Hawker Hartbees 1935
Hawker Hurricane 1935
Hawker Hurricane variants
Hawker Hurricane PZ865
List of Hawker Hurricane operators
Hawker Hector 1936
Hawker Henley 1937
Hawker Hotspur 1938
Hawker Tornado 1939
Hawker Typhoon 1940
List of Hawker Typhoon operators
Hawker Tempest 1942
List of Hawker Tempest operators
Hawker F.2/43 Fury 1943 Prototype
Hawker Sea Fury 1944
List of Hawker Sea Fury operators
WJ232
Hawker P.1040 1947 Prototype
Hawker Sea Hawk 1947
List of Hawker Sea Hawk operators
Hawker P.1052 1948 Prototype
Hawker P.1072 1950 Prototype
Hawker P.1078 Prototype
Hawker P.1081 1950 Prototype
Hawker P.1072 1950 Prototype
Hawker Hunter 1951
Hawker Hunter variants
List of Hawker Hunter operators
Hawker P.1121 Late 1950s prototype
Hawker P.1127 1960 Prototype
Hawker P.1214

Chief Test Pilots

Bill Humble
Wimpy Wade
Neville Duke

Aerospace industry in the United Kingdom

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.

Hawker Aircraft Pictures and Hawker Aircraft for Sale.

Living Warbirds: The best warbirds DVD series.

Source: WikiPedia