Hawker P.1081

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Hawker P.1081, known as the Australian Fighter was a British jet aircraft from the mid-twentieth century.

The British aircraft company, Hawker Aircraft submitted a proposal to meet a specification put out by the Australian government. It was for a swept-wing & tail fighter using a Rolls-Royce Tay engine. Work was started to modify the second prototype of the Hawker P.1052 (later to become the Hawker Sea Hawk, VX279, however as the Tay was not available a Rolls-Royce Nene engine would be used for the prototype aircraft. The rear fuselage of the P.1052 was completely replaced with one having a straight-through jet pipe & swept tail surfaces. The first flight of the P.1081 took place on 19 June 1950, but in November of that year, the Australian project was discontinued. The aircraft was handed over to the Royal Aircraft Establishment (R.A.E.) and was destroyed in an accident which took the life of the pilot, Squadron Leader T. S. "Wimpy" Wade.

[edit] Specifications

• Power Plant - Rolls-Royce Nene RN2 (5,000 lbf (22.2 kN) thrust)
• Span - 31 ft 6 in (9.60 m)
• Length - 37 ft 4 in (11.38 m)
• Height - 13 ft 3 in (4.04 m)
• Empty Wt - 11,200 lb (5,080 kg)
• Loaded Wt - 14,480 lb (6,570 kg)
• Max Speed - 604 knots at sea level (1119 km/h)
• Service ceiling - 45,600 ft (13,900 m)

[edit] References

Personal experience in HAL Design Office

"Hawker Aircraft since 1920" by Francis K Mason - pub Putnam - ISBN 0-85177-839-9

[edit] See also

 

 

Designation sequence

Sea Fury - P.1040 - P.1052 - P.1081 - P.1072 - Hunter - P.1127