From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Hawker Aircraft Limited was a British aircraft manufacturer responsible for some of the most famous products in British aviation 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 Hawker Siddeley Aircraft, and from 1955, Hawker Siddeley Group, until the 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 is maintained by the American company Raytheon who produce business jets under the name after purchasing British Aerospace's product line in 1993.

Hawker Hurricane Mk1

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.)

Almost every Hawker Aircraft design of the Second World War was a success (even if not initially), mainly attributable to the design genius of Sydney Camm.

• Hawker Woodcock 1923
• Hawker Duiker 1923 prototype
• 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

• Mason, Francis K. Hawker Aircraft since 1920. London: Putnam, 1991. ISBN 0-85177-839-9

• British Aircraft Directory entry