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Hawker Harrier

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The Hawker Harrier was an experimental biplane torpedo bomber aircraft built by Hawker Aircraft to a specification issued in the 1920s for the RAF.

Development

In Template:Avyear, the British air ministry laid down specifications for a high altitude bomber to replace the Hawker Horsley and for a coastal torpedo bomber (Specifications 23/25 and 24/25). As these specifications were similar, the Air Ministry announced that a single competition would be held to study aircraft submitted for both specifications.[1]

Sydney Camm of Hawker Aircraft designed the Harrier to meet the requirements of Specification 23/25, with the prototype (J8325) first flying in February Template:Avyear, the first of the competitors to the two specifications to .[1] The Harrier was a two seat biplane with single bay wings powered by a geared Bristol Jupiter VIII. It was armed with one .303 in (7.7 mm) Vickers machine gun and one .303 in (7.7 mm) Lewis gun carrying a maximum of 1,000 lb (454 kg) of bombs.[2]

The prototype Harrier was tested at the Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment (A & AEE) at Martlesham Heath in November 1927, where, while it met the requirements of Specification 23/25, and had satisfactory handling, the geared engine meant that it was underpowered,[2] and it had an inferior bombload to the Hawker Horsley, the aircraft it was meant to replace.[1] It was therefore modified to carry a torpedo. On testing the modified aircraft, however, it was found to still be underpowered, being incapable of taking off with torpedo, gunner and a full fuel load.[1] It was therefore not considered further, the competition ultimately being won by the Vickers Vildebeest.[3]

The prototype was used by Bristol as an engine testbed, flying with the 870 hp (649 kW) Bristol Hydra and the 495 hp Bristol Orion engines.[1]

Specifications (Harrier (Bomber))

Data from Mason, The British Bomber since 1914 [1]

General characteristics

  • Crew: Two
  • Length: 29 ft 7 in (9.02 m)
  • Wingspan: 46 ft 3 in (14.10 m)
  • Height: 13 ft 4 in (4.07 m)
  • Wing area: 497 ft² (46.2 m²)
  • Empty weight: 3,278 lb (1,490 kg)
  • Loaded weight: 5,656 lb (2,561 kg)
  • Powerplant:Bristol Jupiter VIII nine cylinder radial engine, 583 hp (435 kW)

Performance

Armament

  • 1 × forward firing .303 in (7.7 mm) Vickers gun and 1 × .303 in (7.7 mm) Lewis gun on Scarff ring in rear cockpit.
  • either 1 × torpedo or 1,000 lb bombs

  • See also

    Comparable aircraft

    References

    1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Mason 1994, p.193.
    2. 2.0 2.1 Lewis 1980, p.162.
    3. Mason 1994, p.200.
    • Lewis, Peter (1980). The British Bomber since 1914, Third edition, London: Putnam. ISBN 0 370 30265 6. 
    • Mason, Francis K (1994). The British Bomber since 1914. London: Putnam Aeronautical Books. ISBN 0 85177 861 5. 

    External links

    Template:Hawker Aircraft aircraft

    This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
    It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Hawker Harrier".