Hawker Sea Hawk

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawker_Sea_Hawk

The Hawker Sea Hawk is a British single-seat jet day fighter of the Fleet Air
Arm (FAA), the air branch of the Royal Navy (RN), built by Hawker Aircraft and
its sister company, Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft. Although its design originated
from earlier Hawker piston-engined fighters, the Sea Hawk became the company's
first jet aircraft.

Following acceptance in the RN, the Sea Hawk proved to be a reliable and sturdy
workhorse. A considerable number were also produced for the export market and
were operated from aircraft carriers in Dutch and Indian service. The last
operational Sea Hawks, operated by the Indian Navy, were retired in 1983.

Origins

Towards the end of the Second World War, Hawker's design team had become
increasingly interested in developing a fighter aircraft that took advantage of
the newly developed jet propulsion technology. Prior to this, Hawker had been
committed until late 1944 to the production and further development of its
piston-powered aircraft, such as the Hurricane, Tempest and Typhoon, to meet the
wartime demands for these aircraft. On 1 September 1944, the first prototype of
the company's latest fighter aircraft, the Hawker Fury/Sea Fury, conducted its
maiden flight; it was this aircraft that would serve as the basis for Hawker's
first jet-powered aircraft.

The design team studied the potential adaption of the aircraft, having opted to
use the Rolls-Royce Griffon-powered Fury prototype as the starting point. The
team started with the deletion of the piston engine, with its replacement, a
single Rolls-Royce Nene turbojet engine, being fitted in a mid-fuselage
position, along with lateral air intakes and a tailpipe which emerged beneath
the tailplane. The prospective modifications also included "stretching" the
fuselage and moving the cockpit to the extreme front of the fuselage in a
re-contoured nose; this design received the internal designation P.1035. Use of
the Rolls-Royce Derwent engine had been studied but quickly discarded as lacking
power for an aircraft of this size. In November 1944 the P.1035 design was
submitted for evaluation by the Air Ministry.

Design

The F 1 was armed with four 20 mm (.79 in) Hispano Mk V cannons. It was powered
by a 5,000 lbf (22 kN) thrust Rolls-Royce Nene 101 centrifugal flow turbojet
engine. The Nene engine was viewed as underpowered; in 1950, the government had
cancelled development of the Rolls-Royce Tay, an afterburner-equipped
development of the Nene, leaving no more powerful engines to equip the Sea Hawk.
More minor developments of the Nene engine were developed and were adopted on
the aircraft, providing for some increase in power.

The F 1 had a maximum speed of 599 mph (964 km/h) at sea level and a range of
800 mi (1,287 km) on internal fuel. A more refined fighter variant was the F 2,
which introduced power-boosted aileron controls as well as other modifications,
including to its structure. The next variant of the Sea Hawk was developed into
a fighter-bomber, the FB 3, and differed only slightly from its predecessors;
its structure being strengthened to allow it to carry a wider array of equipment
and weaponry on its four hard points, these included rockets, bombs, napalm,
mines, reconnaissance cameras, external drop tanks and fixtures for
rocket-assisted take-off gear (RATOG).

Unlike its rival, the Supermarine Attacker, which had been the first jet
aircraft to enter service with the FAA, the Sea Hawk had a tricycle
undercarriage rather than a tail-wheel, making it easier to land on carriers, it
was also Hawker's first aircraft to incorporate a nose-wheel undercarriage. The
Sea Hawk had adopted a fairly conventional design, being built with straight
wings while a number of other contemporary aircraft, such as the F-86 Sabre, had
adopted swept wings. The Sea Hawk was a reliable and elegant aeroplane, though
its cautious design meant it would only be attractive on the export market and
be in production for only a short period before being superseded by more
advanced aircraft.


Role
Naval fighter

National origin
United Kingdom

Manufacturer
Hawker Aircraft
Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft

Designer
Sydney Camm

First flight
2 September 1947

Introduction
March 1953

Retired
1983

Primary users
Royal Navy (retired)
Indian Navy (retired)
German Navy (retired)
Royal Netherlands Navy (retired)


Number built
542

Variants
Hawker P.1072

The first production Sea Hawk was the F 1, which first flew in 1951, entered
service two years later with 806 Squadron, first based at Brawdy, then
transferred to HMS Eagle. All Sea Hawks were in service by the mid-1950s and
eventually over 500 were built.

During service evaluations of the Sea Hawk, Australian and Canadian pilots from
their naval services flew examples of the aircraft and there were official
suggestions they would adopt the type as standard equipment. Both nations were
also interested in new American-built naval aircraft; only a handful of Sea
Hawks were transferred to either nation, some operating from the flight deck of
the Australian Majestic-class aircraft carrier HMAS Sydney, though these did not
enter full squadron service.

In 1956, shortly after the termination of the Sea Hawk production line, the
Federal Republic of Germany placed an order for 64 aircraft to equip the
Bundesmarine, the Navy of West Germany, having determined the type to represent
good value for money. Requiring fair-weather daytime fighter bombers and day
time fighters with a bad weather flight capability, these were delivered in two
variants, the fair-weather Sea Hawk Mk 100 and the bad-weather Sea Hawk Mk 101;
32 aircraft of each variant were ordered. The Mk 101 was equipped with a
pod-based EKCO-built search radar for sea reconnaissance. The German Sea Hawks
served into the mid-1960s, until replaced by the F-104 Starfighter.

Combat record

The Sea Hawk saw extensive service during the Suez Crisis, initiated by Egypt's
nationalisation of the Suez Canal and naval blockade of southern Israeli ports
in violation of the 1949 armistice and UN Security Council resolution, denying
passage of the Straits of Tiran to Israeli shipping. The United Kingdom, France
and Israel conspired to provoke war, with the Anglo-French invasion being known
as Operation Musketeer, beginning on 31 October 1956. Six Sea Hawk squadrons
took part: two aboard the fleet carrier HMS Eagle and two each aboard the light
fleet carriers HMS Albion and HMS Bulwark. The Sea Hawks were primarily used for
ground attack. Due to aircraft such as the Hunter lacking the range or clearance
to deliver munitions, the entire British ground attack capability during the
conflict was delivered by the navy Sea Hawks, typically being escorted by de
Havilland Sea Venom fighters.

Sea Hawks launched many attacks upon Egyptian shore-based targets, often in the
face of heavy anti-aircraft fire, resulting in several aircraft being severely
damaged. The military conduct of the Suez Campaign was successful, unlike the
political disaster and all invasion forces were withdrawn by 1957, though the
waterway was reopened to Israeli ships. The Suez Crisis was to be the swan song
of Sea Hawk combat operations with the Royal Navy, as the de Havilland Sea Vixen
and the Supermarine Scimitar, new strike aircraft were introduced after the
conflict.

The Sea Hawk was a successful export aircraft. In the Royal Netherlands Navy, it
served aboard the Dutch aircraft carrier HNLMS Karel Doorman, ex-HMS Venerable,
including decolonization operations guarding against Indonesian threats in the
area. From 1959 they were equipped with Sidewinder missiles significantly
enhancing and extending their air-to-air combat capabilities. In 1961, the Sea
Hawks that served on her were moved ashore when the NATO mission profile was
changed to all ASW aircraft; by October 1964 they had been taken out of service.

The Sea Hawks in Fleet Air Arm service began being phased out from first line
service in 1958, the year in which the Supermarine Scimitar and de Havilland Sea
Vixen entered service, both of which types would eventually replace the Sea
Hawk.

Specifications (Sea Hawk FGA 6)

General characteristics
Crew: One
Length: 39 ft 8 in (12.09 m)
Wingspan: 39 ft 0 in (11.89 m)
Height: 8 ft 8 in (2.64 m)
Wing area: 278 ft2 (25.83 m2)
Empty weight: 9,278 lb (4,208 kg)
Loaded weight: 13,220 lb (5,996 kg)
Max. takeoff weight: 16,150 lb (7,325 kg)
Powerplant: 1 × Rolls-Royce Nene 103 turbojet, 5,200 lbf (23.1 kN)

Performance
Maximum speed: 600 mph (965 km/h)
Range: 480 mi (770 km)
Service ceiling: 44,500 ft (13,564 m)
Rate of climb: 5,700 ft/min (29.0 m/s)
Wing loading: 48 lb/ft2 (232 kg/m2)
Thrust/weight: 0.38

Armament

Guns: 4 × 20 mm (.79 in) Hispano Mk V cannons (200 rpg)
Hardpoints: 6 underwing and provisions to carry combinations of: Rockets: 20 ×
"60 lb" (27 kg) unguided rockets or 16 × 5 in (127 mm) unguided rockets
Bombs: 4 × 500 lb (227 kg) bombs
Other: or 2 × 90 Imp gal (410 l) drop tanks





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