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HG Hawker Engineering Company
Following the bankruptcy of the Sopwith Aviation Company, the former company test pilot Harry Hawker MBE together with three other Sopwith colleagues (T.O.M Sopwith and Fred Sigrist) purchased the assets of the old company and formed H.G. Hawker Engineering Company in 1920.
As the new owners of the rights to Sopwith aircraft designs, they immediately won the contract for reconditioning RAF Sopwith Snipes damaged in World War 1.
Hawker was both an adventurer and daredevill who loved racing cars at Brooklands (where he originally met Sopwithin 1911) and appearing at various Aerial Derby's around the country.
After World War 1 he attemped to fly across the Atlantic in under 72 hours but the engine on his Sopwith Atlantic failed after just 14 and a half hours. Luckily, he and navigator Kenneth Grieve were rescued by a passing freighter.
Harry Hawker
As Chief Test Pilot, Hawker had been largely responsible for the early growth of Sopwith Aviation and it was a severe set back for the new 10-month old Hawker company when he was killed in a flying accident at Hendon on 12th July 1921.
The company’s first indigenous design, the Duiker, proved unsuccessful and never progressed passed the prototype stage.
Undeterred, the company produced the Hawker Woodcock which, although rejected as a first prototype, received an order for 10 aircraft from the RAF for a modified and improved Mk II.
Eventually they were to order a further 52 aircraft, with Hawker and the RAF entering the demonstrator aircraft the 1925 Kings Cup Air Race.
A number of successful and innovative designs followed and HG Hawker grew in both size and reputation.
One of the most outstanding designs of the inter-war years was the Sydney Camm designed Hawker Hart family of aircraft and its derivatives such as the Audax, Hind and Demon of which nearly 3,000 aircraft were produced.
In 1933 the company was renamed Hawker Aircraft Limited and just a year later it acquired The Gloster Aircraft Company.
Genealogy
| 1920 | HG Hawker Engineering |
| 1933 | Hawker Aircraft Limited |
| 1935 | Hawker Siddeley Aircraft |
| 1963 | Hawker Siddeley Aviation |
| 1977 | British Aerospace |
| 1999 | BAE Systems |
Please see Hawker Siddeley Aviation for a list of later aircraft (Post 1963)
Hawker Aircraft Limited & Hawker Siddeley Aircraft
On 18th May 1933, HG Hawker Engineering Company underwent a change of name to Hawker Aircraft Limited and quickly took advantage of the Great Depression to acquire Gloster Aircraft Company in February 1934.
The newly formed Hawker Aircraft Limited was short-lived and just one year later (1935) it merged with The Armstrong Siddeley Development Company Limited. The union included aircraft manufacturer Sir W.G. Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft Ltd and the substantial AV Roe & Company.
Hawker Hurricane Production at Brooklands
Despite the new company being registered as Hawker Siddeley Aircraft, after the merger the individual companies continued to trade under the trade names of Hawker Aircraft, Sir WG Armstrong Whitworth and Avro.
Under the Hawker Aircraft banner, the company produced a number of now famous aircraft, most noteable of which was the Hawker Hurricane which saw such successful service during the Battle of Britain.
Over 14,500 Hurricanes were produced at Hawker at Brooklands, Kingston and Langley, as well as Gloster at Brockworth and Avro facilities around the UK and Canada.
Genealogy
| HG Hawker Engineering Company | |
| Gloster Aircraft Company | |
| 1933 | Hawker Aircraft Limited |
| 1935 | Hawker Siddeley Aircraft |
| 1963 | Hawker Siddeley Aviation |
| 1977 | British Aerospace |
| 1999 | BAE Systems |
Hawker Aircraft (see also Hawker Siddeley Aviation)
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1923
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Duiker
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1923
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Woodcock
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1924
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Cygnet
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1924
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Hedgehog
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1925
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Horsley
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1925
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Heron
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1925
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Hornbill
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1925
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Danecock
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1927
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Harrier
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1927
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Hawfinch
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1928
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Hart
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1928
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F.20/27
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1928
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Hoopoe
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1928
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Tomtit
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1929
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Hornet
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1929
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Osprey
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1930
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Nimrod
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1931
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Fury
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1931
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Audax
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1932
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Dantorp
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1933
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Demon
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1934
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Hawker P.V.3 / P.V.4
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1934
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Hardy
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1934
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Hind |
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1935
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Hartbees
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1935
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Hurricane / Sea Hurricane
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1936
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Hector
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1937
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Henley
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1938
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Hotspur
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1939
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Tornado
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1940
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Typhoon
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1942
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Tempest
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1944
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Sea Fury
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1947
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P.1040
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1947
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Sea Hawk
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1951
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Hawker Hunter
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During the late 1940's and 1950's Hawker developed a number of prototypes including the P.1052, P.1072, P.1081, P.1103, P.1121, P.1127 & P.1214
More Information
Products
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1950
Hawker P1081
A development of the P.1052 with a straight-through jet pipe and swept tail surfaces.
1950
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1942
Hawker Tempest
High speed fighter and ground attack aircraft, evolved from the Typhoon and precursor to the Fury / Sea Fury.
1942
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1940
Hawker Typhoon
Fighter and heavily-armed ground attack aircraft designed around the Napier Sabre engine.
1940