Hawker Hunter

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GastonGlocker
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Hawker Hunter

Post by GastonGlocker »

Am intrigued by the Hunter. The quick change gun pack and ground attack in mountainous terrain scenes are very interesting. It seems it had all the ingredients for success:

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Re: Hawker Hunter

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ArmChairCivvy
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Re: Hawker Hunter

Post by ArmChairCivvy »

arfah wrote: No radar
Check out T8M... no, I did not know either that it existed (before watching the above vid). Great story!
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Re: Hawker Hunter

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ArmChairCivvy
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Re: Hawker Hunter

Post by ArmChairCivvy »

For Sea Harriers... did you not watch the vid?

And that T8M looked quite impressive...
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GastonGlocker
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Re: Hawker Hunter

Post by GastonGlocker »

It seems it is similar in performance to the F-86 Sabre with an edge to the Hunter for adapting to the future and the heavier cannon armament.

I have to keep watching it operate in the mountains. Very impressed.

It reminds me of what the F20 Tigershark could have been a generation later, in terms of performance/cost/simplicity/elegance, except the Hunter was at the right place at the right time to accrue the buyers.

I had no idea this occurred. Interesting as well in that it tangled with the F-86 and F-104.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indo-Paki ... ar_of_1965


It seems the Hunter sort of split the difference between the US F-86 and F-100. Closer but better than the F86 which is commonly compared?

http://www.fighter-aircraft.com/f-86-sabre.html

http://www.fighter-aircraft.com/north-a ... sabre.html

Hunter Specs (can’t go wrong with 4 Aden!):





Type
Fighter and ground attack

Country of origin
United Kingdom

Manufacturer
Hawker Siddeley

First flight
20 July 1951

Introduced
1956

Produced
1953

Numbers built
1,972 units

Unit costs
Approx. USD 20 million-estimated if sold new at present (2011)

Max speed
Mach 0.94, 620 kn (715 mph, 1,150 km/h) at sea level

Max range
Combat range: 385 nmi (445 mi, 715 km)
Ferry range: 1,650 nmi (1,900 mi, 3,060 km) with external fuel

Dimensions
Length: 45 ft 11 in (14.00 m)
Wingspan: 33 ft 8 in (10.26 m)
Height: 13 ft 2 in (4.01 m)

Weight
Empty weight: 14,122 lb (6,405 kg)
Loaded weight: 17,750 lb (8,050 kg)
Max takeoff weight: 24,600 lb (11,158 kg)

Powerplant
1 × Rolls-Royce Avon 207 turbojet, 10,145 lbf (45.13 kN)

Armament
Guns: 4× 30 mm (1.18 in) ADEN cannons in a removable gun pack with 150 rpg

Hardpoints:
4 underwing with a capacity of 7,400 lb (3,400 kg) and provisions to carry combinations of:

Rockets:
4× Matra rocket pods (each with 18 × SNEB 68 mm (2.68 in) rockets) or
24× Hispano SURA R80 80 mm (3.15 in) rockets[97]

Missiles:
4× AIM-9 Sidewinder Air-to-air missiles
4× AGM-65 Maverick Air-to-surface missiles

Bombs: a variety of unguided iron bombs

Other: 2× 230 Gallon drop tanks for extended range/loitering time

Operators
Current operator: Lebanon

Former operators: Abu Dhabi/United Arab Emirates, Belgium, Chile, Denmark, Iraq, India, Jordan, Kenya, Kuwait, Netherlands, Oman, Peru, Qatar, Rhodesia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Somalia, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, Zimbabwe

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Re: Hawker Hunter

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ArmChairCivvy
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Re: Hawker Hunter

Post by ArmChairCivvy »

From the first of the 3 links above:
"The F-86 was vulnerable to the diminutive Folland Gnat, nicknamed "Sabre Slayer."[49] The Gnat is credited by many independent and Indian sources as having shot down seven Pakistani Canadair Sabres[a] in the 1965 war.[28][50] while two Gnats were downed by PAF fighters."

This reminded me of RAF's own fly-offs between Hunter and Gnat; the latter ran circles around the Hunter. Air2Ground trials in Yemen also ended up in Gnat's favour in the overall verdict (must have been before the 4pack cannon?). However, the first priority was to be able to tackle Russian bombers and due to its small size/ endurance the Gnat was far from ideal in this capacity.

Bottom line: RAF, or was it Air Ministry still at the time, forced Folland into Hawker's fold with the promise to buy 100-ish two-seater trainers, and the agility was there for all of us to see for a very long time with the Red Arrows.
Ever-lasting truths: Multi-year budgets/ planning by necessity have to address the painful questions; more often than not the Either-Or prevails over Both-And.
If everyone is thinking the same, then someone is not thinking (attributed to Patton)

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SKB
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Re: Hawker Hunter

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RAF Hunter Pilot Goes Rogue over London in 1968

(Mark Felton Productions) 5th April 2019
On 5th April 1968, an RAF pilot flew his Hawker Hunter jet fighter into central London on an unauthorised mission and proceeded to make one of the most impressive and memorable political protests in British history, using some of the UK's most famous buildings.
Wikipedia:
Introduction
The Hawker Hunter Tower Bridge incident occurred on 5 April 1968 when Royal Air Force (RAF) Hawker Hunter pilot Alan Pollock performed unauthorised low flying over several London landmarks and then flew through the span of Tower Bridge on the Thames. His actions were to mark the 50th anniversary of the founding of the RAF and as a demonstration against the Ministry of Defence (Air) for not recognising it.

Upon landing he was arrested and later invalided out of the RAF on medical grounds, which avoided a court martial.

Background
In the 1960s, the British defence industry saw a shifting emphasis from manned aircraft towards guided missiles, originating from the 1957 Defence White Paper by British Defence Minister Duncan Sandys. The British aircraft industry had slipped into general decline and morale in the aerial services of the British armed forces was low. Flight Lieutenant Alan Pollock, a flight commander in No. 1 (Fighter) Squadron RAF, was further displeased that no aerial displays had been planned to mark the RAF's 50th anniversary.

On 1 April 1968, Pollock and other members of No. 1 Squadron took part in anniversary leaflet raids on other RAF stations and on 4 April visited RAF Tangmere, where they performed a display.

Incident
On 5 April 1968, Pollock decided on his own initiative to mark the occasion of the RAF anniversary with an unauthorised display. His flight left the soon-to-be-closed RAF Tangmere in Sussex to return to RAF West Raynham in Norfolk, a route that took them over London. Immediately after takeoff, Pollock left the flight and flew low level. Having "beaten up" Dunsfold Aerodrome (Hawker's home airfield), he then took his Hawker Hunter FGA.9 (XF442), a single-seater, ground-attack jet fighter, over London at low level, circled the Houses of Parliament three times as a demonstration against Prime Minister Harold Wilson's government, dipped his wings over the Royal Air Force Memorial on the Embankment and finally flew under the top span of Tower Bridge. He later wrote of the decision to fly through Tower Bridge:

"Until this very instant I'd had absolutely no idea that, of course, Tower Bridge would be there. It was easy enough to fly over it, but the idea of flying through the spans suddenly struck me. I had just ten seconds to grapple with the seductive proposition which few ground attack pilots of any nationality could have resisted. My brain started racing to reach a decision. Years of fast low-level strike flying made the decision simple . . .""

Knowing that he was likely to be stripped of his flying status as a result of this display, he proceeded to "beat up" several airfields (Wattisham, Lakenheath and Marham) in inverted flight at an altitude of about 200 feet en route to his base at RAF West Raynham, where, within the hour, he was formally arrested by Flying Officer Roger Gilpin.

Although other pilots had flown under the upper span of Tower Bridge, Pollock was the first to do so in a jet aircraft.

Aftermath
In the immediate aftermath of the incident his unit was posted to North Africa without him while he remained on a charge. He was subsequently invalided out of the RAF on medical grounds. This avoided a court martial and the embarrassment to the government of Pollock giving a reason for his stunt and perhaps receiving the support of the public.
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SKB
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Re: Hawker Hunter

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(Imperial War Museum) 27th July 2022
In the early 1950s, the RAF had a big problem. Having brought the first generation of jet fighters like the Gloster Meteor into service, they suddenly found them outclassed. Royal Australian Air Force Meteors were coming up short against North Korean Mig-15s in the skies over Korea and something had to be done. The RAF purchased the North American Sabre as a stop-gap. But for the long term, they decided to rush a brand new second-generation fighter into production. That aircraft would become the Hawker Hunter.

The Hunter initially had a number of problems. But once they were ironed out the aircraft became a huge success for the British aircraft industry - exported to over 20 nations worldwide. The Hunter flew in a range of conflicts with the RAF such as Suez and Aden, including in a ground attack role. It also became a favourite at air shows for display teams like the Blue Diamonds and Black Arrows. Finally, a Hunter F.6 just like the one at IWM Duxford was flown through Tower Bridge by pilot Alan Pollock, a story which has entered RAF legend.

In this episode of Duxford in Depth, Liam Shaw examines the Hawker Hunter's innovative design, explaining how it changed through various iterations. He also looks at its role in conflicts like Aden and Suez, its use as a display aircraft for the Black Diamonds and in that very famous incident at Tower Bridge.

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Tempest414
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Re: Hawker Hunter

Post by Tempest414 »

In lots of ways we over look the DH Venom FB-1 which we could have rushed to Korea in Mid 1951 yes it came into RAF service in Mid 52 but it was good enough in Mid 51. The Venom was 20 MPH slower than the Mig 15 in top speed however it could out turn out accelerate and out gun both the Mig-15 and F-86 in a dogfight

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