The Hunter Story E-Book

Martin W. Bowman

• Herausgeber: The History Press
• Kategorie: Lebensstil
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2012

Beschreibung

One of the world's greatest aircraft, for three decades pilots enthused about the Hunter and its smooth lines, Rolls-Royce Avon engine, outstanding handling characteristics and lively performance. Designed by Sir Sydney Camm, the genius behind the Hurricane, work on the Hunter commenced late in 1948, but the post-war economic situation in Britain delayed its first flight until 20 July 1951. In September 1953 Neville Duke piloted a Hunter to shatter the world speed record. This book traces the history of the Hunter across RAF and worldwide service, from design and development to the glory days and the unforgettable aerobatic displays with the Black Knights, Black Arrows and Blue Diamonds. A real pilot's aeroplane, the Hunter reigned supreme for fifty years, with the last example retired in July 2001.

Leseprobe

The Hunter Story

Martin W. Bowman

First published in 2009

The History Press

The Mill, Brimscombe Port

Stroud, Gloucestershire, GL5 2QG

www.thehistorypress.co.uk

This ebook edition first published in 2014

All rights reserved

© Martin W. Bowman, 2009, 2012, 2014

Martin W. Bowman has asserted the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

This ebook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights, and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.

EPUB ISBN 978 0 7524 8514 0

MOBI ISBN 978 0 7524 8513 3

Original typesetting by The History Press

CONTENTS

Introduction

Background

Into Service

Black and Blue

The FGA.9

Hunters for Export

Appendix 1 Specifications

Appendix 2 Milestones

INTRODUCTION

If ever there was a real pilot’s aeroplane it was the Hunter, an outstanding multi-purpose aircraft which excelled in the roles of interceptor fighter, ground attack, reconnaissance, research vehicle and two-seater trainer, and not forgetting the dramatic formation aerobatic performances.

British fighters had been among the world’s finest during the Second World War. Many of them, such as the Hawker Hurricane and the Typhoon rocket-firing fighter, were the result of the design teams headed by Sydney Camm, a man who had been Hawker’s Chief Designer since 1925. His greatest post-war creation, the Hunter, beckoned, but bringing this project (and others) to fruition would prove difficult. Work on the Hunter commenced late in 1948, but because of the depressed postwar economic situation in Britain, it was not until early 1950 that Hunter prototypes were constructed. Neville Duke made the first flight on 20 July 1951, and on 19 September 1953 he piloted a Hunter to shatter the world air speed record.

The Hunter is one of the world’s greatest aircraft which for three decades pilots enthused about, extolling the smooth, aerodynamic lines, 4 × 30mm cannon, the Rolls-Royce Avon engine, and its outstandingly honest handling characteristics combined with a lively performance. Who can ever forget the glory days of the unforgettable aerobatic displays with the Black Knights, Black Arrows and Blue Diamonds? It vividly recalls operations in Europe with Fighter Command and 2nd TAF, in Cyprus, the Middle East and the Far East, where Hunters in the ground-attack role operated against rebels in Aden and Malaysia respectively.

The Hunter was undoubtedly a classic thoroughbred of its time from the stables of one of the finest fighter manufacturers in the world. The Hunter’s success assured, for fifty years its longevity and adaptability was rarely challenged, the last example being retired in July 2001. The Hunter legend lives on, however, with some 114 potentially airworthy airframes located in fourteen countries around the world.

Did you know?

In June 1962 when the RAF won the NATO AIRCENT gun-firing competition for the first time, Shiny Blue used Hunter F.6s and their 30mm cannon to eclipse RCAF Sabres, which traditionally used .5in machine-guns to win this competition in the past. The .5in machine-gun was much easier to harmonize and the Sabre was a very stable gun platform. The Hunter was a ‘livelier’ aircraft and the 30mm cannon was ‘quite a handful’.

BACKGROUND

In Britain in November 1946, the specification for the first swept-wing jet, powered by the 5,000lb-thrust Nene 2, was issued. Eight months earlier, three prototypes of Hawker Aircraft’s first jet fighter, the P.1040, which was adapted for carrier-based interception, had been ordered. The first P.1040 prototype flew on 2 September 1947, powered by a 4,500lb-thrust Rolls-Royce Nene I, which produced a maximum speed of about Mach 0.77 (510mph). An increase in speed and performance only resulted when Camm forged ahead with plans for a swept-wing design, designated the P.1047, powered by a more powerful Nene engine. The new wings had a sweepback of 35°on the quarter chord and a thickness ratio of 0.10. By the end of 1947, Sydney Camm and his design team at Richmond Road, Kingston-upon-Thames knew they would have to design an aircraft that could accommodate the new 6,500lb Rolls-Royce A.J.65 axial-flow turbojet. This engine would soon become world famous as the Avon. Specification F.3/48 was issued to Hawkers early in 1948 for a single-seat, cannon-armed, day interceptor fighter capable of Mach 0.94 (620mph at 36,000ft, 724mph at sea level) and have an endurance of sixty minutes. An ejection seat would be mandatory and provision had to be made for a future radarranging gunsight. The main characteristics of Camm’s original P.1067 design included an Avon engine mounted in the fuselage amidships with annular nose air intake and exhausting through a long jet pipe in the extreme tail. The wing was swept back 42½° on the quarter-chord and a straight-tapered tailplane was mounted on top of the fin, though this was later deleted.

Did you know?

In the early 1950s air-firing trials identified a need to fit a housing to collect spent cartridge cases and links that might otherwise damage the airframe. Two blister fairings, which the RAF knew as ‘Sabrinas’ after an unusually well-endowed young starlet, cured the problem. Swiss Hunters were said to have enlarged ‘Sabrinas’ for weapons training, collecting both links and cases.