Hawker Hotspur
Hotspur | |
---|---|
Hawker Hotspur | |
Role | Fighter aircraft |
Manufacturer | Hawker |
Designer | Sydney Camm |
First flight | 14 June 1938 |
Primary user | Royal Air Force |
Number built | 1 |
Developed from | Hawker Henley |
The Hawker Hotspur was a
Design and development
The Air Ministry released Specification F.9/35, which required a two-seater day and night "turret fighter" capable of 290 mph (470 km/h) at 15,000 ft (4,600 m) to British manufacturers in 1935. The aircraft was to have its armament (four machine guns) concentrated in a power-operated turret, and performance was to be only slightly less than that of other fighter designs being developed at that time. It was also to have enough fuel capacity to perform standing patrols.
There were seven responses to the tender:
In the same fashion as the Henley, the Hotspur used standard
In 1937, the competing Boulton Paul received an order for 87 Defiants and Hawker for 389 Hotspurs (tp be built at Avro). For naval use the Blackburn Roc turret fighter was also ordered though the 136 aircraft were to be built by Boulton Paul.[5] In January 1938 an official opinion was that the Defiant and Hotspur would be equal in performance but Hawker had shown insufficient enthusiasm in the project.[6] The Hotspur production order was cancelled, more Defiants ordered in their place.[7] A second Hotspur prototype was cancelled.
The completion of the prototype was delayed until 1938, by which time the rival Boulton Paul Defiant had already flown. The Hotspur first flew, at Brooklands, on 14 June 1938 with only a wooden mock-up of the turret and with ballast equivalent to the weight of armament. It was then tested at Martlesham Heath.
Testing and evaluation
As Hawker was committed to the production of
Specifications (Hotspur)
Data from Hawker Aircraft since 1920[10]
General characteristics
- Crew: Two (pilot & gunner)
- Length: 32 ft 10.5 in (10.02 m)
- Wingspan: 40 ft 6 in (12.34 m)
- Height: 13 ft 10 in (4.22 m)
- Wing area: 342 sq ft (31.8 m2) [11]
- Empty weight: 5,800 lb (2,630 kg)
- Max takeoff weight: 7,650 lb (3,470 kg)
- Powerplant: 1 × Rolls-Royce Merlin II hp V-12 inline piston engine, 1,030 hp (768 kW)
Performance
- Maximum speed: 316 mph (510 km/h, 275 kn)
- Service ceiling: 28,000 ft (8,500 m)
Armament
- Guns: ** 4 × Boulton-Paulturret.
- 1 × .303 in (7.7 mm) Vickers machine gun in nose
See also
Related development
Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era
Related lists
References
Notes
Bibliography
- Brew, Alex. The Turret Fighters – Defiant and Roc. Ramsbury, Marlborough, Wiltshire, UK: Crowood Press, 2002. ISBN 1-86126-497-6.
- Buttler, Tony (2012). British Experimental Combat Aircraft of World War II: Prototypes, Research Aircraft and Failed Production Designs. Manchester, UK: Hikoki Publications. ISBN 978-19021-0-924-4.
- Buttler, Tony (2004). Fighters & Bombers 1935-1950. British Secret Projects 3. Hinckley: Midland Publishing. ISBN 9-781857-801798.
- 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. The British Fighter since 1912. Annapolis, MD: US Naval Institute Press, 1992. ISBN 1-55750-082-7.
- Mason, Francis K. Hawker Aircraft since 1920. Annapolis, MD: US Naval Institute Press, 1991. ISBN 1-55750-351-6. (3rd US edition, originally published in the UK by Putnam Aeronautical Books in 1961 and 1971)
External links
- Hawker Hotspur – British Aircraft of World War II