26 RAF CENTENARY CELEBRATION BOMBERS
(^19182018) HAWKER HART AND HIND
HAWKER
HART AND HINDHART AND HIND
W
hile the Fairey
Fox of 1925 was
revolutionary,
it raised opposition
and prejudices in the
Air Ministry, the RAF
and elements of the
aviation industry. The Fox helped
to convince the Hawker designer,
Sydney Camm, of the way forward
and it was Hart-shaped.
The Hart was arguably the most
important aircraft to enter RAF
service in the early 1930s. Its
influence cannot be over estimated.
A two-seat day bomber, which was
faster than contemporary fighters,
the Hawker company knew it had
the basis of a series of warplanes.
Exploiting the design’s speed, it began
a two-pronged programme – single-
seater fighters and two-seaters capable
of fulfilling a wide range of roles.
The fighters evolved as the Fury
for the RAF and the Nimrod for the
Fleet Air Arm (FAA). These owed
constructional technique and design
philosophy to the Hart, but were
essentially clean-sheet designs.
The Hart’s airframe was morphed
into a family, including a dedicated
trainer and its own replacement
the Hind. It also spawned the
Demon two-seat fighter; the Audax
army co-operation version and
its replacement, the Hector, the
Hardy ‘colonial’ general-purpose
type for the RAF and the Osprey
reconnaissance two-seater for the
FAA. There was also a plethora of
export versions with all manner of
engine options.
This success transformed Hawker
into the industry leader: indeed,
from the late 1920s, the RAF was
often referred to as the ‘Hawker
Air Force’. Such was the status
Right
Hart (India) K2096 of
39 Squadron, based
at Risalpur from
November 1931. It
stayed in India and
was written off in a
crash while serving
with 1 Service Flying
Training School at
Ambala, northern India,
on August 3, 1942.
PETE WEST
Right
Hind K5466 of 40
Squadron heading
up an immaculate
line-up with Handley
Page Heyfords behind.
This machine served
Abingdon-based 40
Squadron from April
1936 to August 1938.
KEC
1928 TO 1943
W
hile the Fairey
Fox of 1925 was
revolutionary,
it raised opposition
and prejudices in the
Air Ministry, the RAF
and elements of the
Hart (India) K2096 of
1928 TO 1943
Type: Two-seat light bomber
First fl ight: June 1928, entered service January 1930
Powerplant: One 525hp (391kW) Rolls-Royce Kestrel IB V12
Dimensions: Span 37ft 3in (11.35m), Length 29ft 4in (9.04m)
Weights: Empty 2,530lb (1,147kg), All-up 4,554lb (2,065kg)
Max speed: 184mph (296km/h) at 10,000ft (3,048m)
Range: 430 miles (691km)
Armament: One machine gun fi ring through propeller arc, another in dorsal
position. Up to 500lb (226kg) of bombs
Replaced: Fairey Gordon, Hawker Horsley, Westland Wapiti and Wallace from 1930
Taken on charge: 459, sub-contracts to Armstrong Whitworth, Gloster and Vickers
Replaced by: Hawker Hind, Demon and Bristol Blenheim from 1936
HAWKER HART
“Combined production of Harts and Hinds
surpassed all other bomber types taken on
charge by the RAF since 1919 other than the
venerable, much rebuilt and revived DH.9A.”
of the company that its chief,
Thomas Sopwith, masterminded
the acquisition of Armstrong
Whitworth, Avro and Gloster in
1935 to form the Hawker Siddeley
Group.
RED DEER DUO
After a fierce competition with
Avro and de Havilland, Hawker’s
prototype Hart – first flown in
1928 – earned its first contract with
the RAF. That was for 15, but was