Hawker Aircraft Limited was a British

aircraft manufacturer An aerospace manufacturer is a company or individual involved in the various aspects of designing, building, testing, selling, and maintaining aircraft, aircraft parts, missiles, rockets, or spacecraft. Aerospace is a high technology ind ...

that was 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 World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, which resulted in the bankruptcy of the Sopwith Aviation Company. Sopwith test pilot

Harry Hawker Harry George Hawker, MBE, AFC (22 January 1889 – 12 July 1921) was an Australian aviation pioneer. He was the chief test pilot for Sopwith and was also involved in the design of many of their aircraft. After the First World War, he co-fo ...

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 it took advantage of the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

and a strong financial position to purchase the Gloster Aircraft Company in 1934. The next year, it merged with the

engine An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy. Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power ...

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). The company continued to produce designs under the "Hawker" name as part of Hawker Siddeley Aircraft, which from 1955 was a division of Hawker Siddeley Group. In 1963, the "Hawker" brand name was dropped, along with those of the sister companies; the

Hawker P.1127 The Hawker P.1127 and the Hawker Siddeley Kestrel FGA.1 are the British experimental and development aircraft that led to the Hawker Siddeley Harrier, the first ''vertical and/or short take-off and landing'' ( V/STOL) jet fighter-bomber. Deve ...

was the last aircraft to carry the brand name. The Hawker legacy was maintained by the American company Raytheon, which produced

business jet A business jet, private jet, or bizjet is a jet aircraft designed for transporting small groups of people. Business jets may be adapted for other roles, such as the evacuation of casualties or express parcel deliveries, and some are used by pu ...

s (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 British Aerospace plc (BAe) was a British aircraft, munitions and defence-systems manufacturer. Its head office was at Warwick House in the Farnborough Aerospace Centre in Farnborough, Hampshire. Formed in 1977, in 1999 it purchased Marconi ...

's product line in 1993. The name was also used by Hawker Beechcraft after Raytheon's business jet interests (Hawker and

Beechcraft Beechcraft is an American brand of civil aviation and military aircraft owned by Textron Aviation since 2014, headquartered in Wichita, Kansas. Originally, it was a brand of Beech Aircraft Corporation, an American manufacturer of general avi ...

) were acquired by investors and merged.

Products

The first Hawker design was the unbuilt Hawker Humpback of December 1920. This was soon followed by the

Hawker Duiker The Hawker Duiker was an unusual and unsuccessful aircraft. It was the first design at Hawker under a new chief designer, Captain Thomson, in 1922. Much of the equipment and parts were proprietary and made by another aircraft company, Vickers, w ...

, the first prototype, which flew in July 1923. In the interwar years, Hawker produced a successful line of bombers and fighters for the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

, 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 The Hawker Hurricane is a British single-seat fighter aircraft of the 1930s–40s which was designed and predominantly built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd. for service with the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was overshadowed in the public consciousness b ...

fighter plane that, along with the

Supermarine Spitfire The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft used by the Royal Air Force and other Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. Many variants of the Spitfire were built, from the Mk 1 to the Rolls-Royce Gri ...

, was instrumental in winning the

Battle of Britain The Battle of Britain, also known as the Air Battle for England (german: die Luftschlacht um England), was a military campaign of the Second World War, in which the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) of the Royal Navy defende ...

. 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

1923 ''prototype'' – first original design by Hawker, 1 aircraft built, J6918 * Hawker Woodcock 1923 * Hawker Cygnet 1924 *

Hawker Hedgehog The Hawker Hedgehog was a three-seat reconnaissance biplane, to be used for naval scouting, produced to meet Air Ministry Specification 37/22. It was designed in 1923, and had its first flight the next year, piloted by F. P. Raynham. The crew ...

1924 ''prototype'' *

Hawker Horsley The Hawker Horsley was a British single-engined biplane bomber of the 1920s. It was the last all-wooden aircraft built by Hawker Aircraft, and served as a medium day bomber and torpedo bomber with Britain's Royal Air Force between 1926 and 1935 ...

1925 * Hawker Heron 1925 * Hawker Hornbill 1925 * Hawker Danecock 1925 * Hawker Harrier 1927 ''prototype'' *

Hawker Hawfinch The Hawker Hawfinch was a British single-engined biplane fighter of the 1920s. It was unsuccessful, with the Bristol Bulldog being selected instead. Development The Hawker Hawfinch fighter aircraft was designed in 1925 as a replacement for both ...

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 The Hawker Hart is a British two-seater biplane light bomber aircraft that saw service with the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was designed during the 1920s by Sydney Camm and manufactured by Hawker Aircraft. The Hart was a prominent British aircraf ...

1929 * Hawker Nimrod 1930 * Hawker Fury 1931 **Hawker Fury variants * Hawker Audax 1931 * Hawker Dantorp 1932 * Hawker Demon 1933 * Hawker P.V.3 1934 ''prototype'' * Hawker Hart 1934 * Hawker Hind 1934 **Hawker Hind variants * Hawker P.V.4 1934 ''prototype'' * Hawker Hartbeest 1935 *

1935 **

Hawker Sea Hurricane The Hawker Hurricane was a British single-seat fighter aircraft designed and predominantly built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd. Some versions were built in Canada by the Canada Car and Foundry Co Ltd British variants Hurricane Mk I ; Hurricane Mk I ...

** Hawker Hurricane variants ** List of Hawker Hurricane operators ** List of surviving Hawker Hurricanes *

Hawker Hector The Hawker Hector was a British biplane army co-operation and liaison aircraft of the late 1930s; it served with the Royal Air Force and saw brief combat in the Battle of France in May 1940. Some Hectors were later sold to Ireland. It was name ...

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 * Hawker P.1040 1947 ''prototype'' * Hawker Sea Hawk 1947 ** List of Hawker Sea Hawk operators * Hawker P.1052 1948 ''prototype'' *

Hawker P.1072 The Hawker P.1072 was a 1949 experimental British aircraft acting as a test bed for the Armstrong Siddeley Snarler rocket booster engine. It was the prototype Hawker Sea Hawk modified to install the rocket in the tail. Development After the Se ...

1950 ''prototype'' *Hawker P.1078 ''prototype'' * Hawker P.1081 1950 ''prototype'' * Hawker Hunter 1951 ** Hawker Hunter variants ** List of Hawker Hunter operators ** Hawker Hunter in service with Swiss Air Force *

1960 ''prototype''

Projects

''Source: Hannah (1982)''Donald Hannah, Flypast Reference Library - Hawker, Key Publishing 1982 *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

* Thomas Sopwith

Aircraft designers and engineers

* Sydney Camm *

Roy Chaplin Roland Henry Chaplin, (16 May 1899 – 13 December 1988), known as Roy Chaplin, was an aeronautical engineer who worked with Sydney Camm at Hawker Aircraft Limited from 1927 to 1962. He helped design the Hawker Fury biplane, the Hurricane monop ...

Robert Lickley Sir Robert Lang Lickley (19 January 1912 – 7 July 1998) was a Scottish aeronautical engineer, and Chief Engineer at Fairey Aviation during whose tenure the Fairey Delta 2 became the first aircraft to exceed 1,000 mph. Early life Lickle ...

* Richard Walker

Chief Test Pilots

* George Bulman * Bill Humble * Wimpy Wade * Neville Duke * Alfred William (Bill) Bedford

References

Citations

Bibliography

* *. * *.

External links

Hawker
– British Aircraft Directory {{Aerospace industry in the United Kingdom Defunct aircraft manufacturers of the United Kingdom Hawker Siddeley Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1920 Manufacturing companies based in London History of the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames 1920 establishments in England Vehicle manufacturing companies disestablished in 1963 1963 disestablishments in England British companies disestablished in 1963 British companies established in 1920