Cold War Warrior: Inside the Cockpit of the Hawker Hunter subsonic fighter aircraft

The Hawker Hunter is a transonic British jet-powered fighter aircraft developed by Hawker Aircraft for the Royal Air Force (RAF) during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It was designed to take advantage of the newly developed Rolls-Royce Avon turbojet engine and the swept wing, and was the first jet-powered aircraft produced by Hawker to be procured by the RAF. On 7 September 1953, the modified first prototype broke the world air speed record for aircraft, achieving a speed of 727.63 mph (1,171.01 km/h; 632.29 kn).

The single-seat Hunter was introduced to service in 1954 as a maneuverable day interceptor aircraft, quickly succeeding first-generation jet fighters in RAF service such as the Gloster Meteor and the de Havilland Venom. The all-weather/night fighter role was filled by the Gloster Javelin. Successively improved variants of the type were produced, adopting increasingly more capable engine models and expanding its fuel capacity amongst other modifications being implemented. Hunters were also used by two RAF display teams: the Black Arrows, who on one occasion looped a record-breaking 22 Hunters in formation, and later the Blue Diamonds, who flew 16 aircraft. The Hunter was also widely exported, serving with a total of 21 overseas air forces.

During the 1960s, following the introduction of the supersonic English Electric Lightning in the interceptor role, the Hunter transitioned to being operated as a fighter-bomber and for aerial reconnaissance missions, using dedicated variants for these purposes. Two-seat variants remained in use for training and secondary roles with the RAF and the Royal Navy until the early 1990s. Sixty years after its original introduction it was still in active service, being operated by the Lebanese Air Force until 2014.

The Hunter saw combat service in a range of conflicts with several operators, including the Suez Crisis, the Aden Emergency, the Sino-Indian War, the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, the Rhodesian Bush War, the Second Congo War, the Six-Day War, the War of Attrition and the Yom Kippur War. Overall, 1,972 Hunters were manufactured by Hawker Aircraft and its successor, Hawker Siddeley, as well as being produced under license overseas. In British service, the Hunter was replaced in its principal roles by the Lightning, the Hawker Siddeley Harrier, and the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II.

General characteristics

Crew: 1
Length: 45 ft 10.5 in (13.983 m)
Wingspan: 33 ft 8 in (10.26 m)
Height: 13 ft 2 in (4.01 m)
Wing area: 349 sq ft (32.4 m2)
Airfoil: Hawker 8.5% symmetrical
Empty weight: 14,122 lb (6,406 kg)
Gross weight: 17,750 lb (8,051 kg)
Max takeoff weight: 24,600 lb (11,158 kg)
Powerplant: 1 × Rolls-Royce Avon 207 turbojet engine, 10,145 lbf (45.13 kN) thrust
Performance

Maximum speed: 623 mph (1,003 km/h, 541 kn) at 36,000 ft (11,000 m)
715 mph (621 kn; 1,151 km/h) at sea level
Maximum speed: Mach 0.94
Combat range: 385 mi (620 km, 335 nmi)
Ferry range: 1,900 mi (3,100 km, 1,700 nmi) maximum external fuel
Service ceiling: 50,000 ft (15,000 m)
Rate of climb: 17,200 ft/min (87 m/s)
Wing loading: 51.6 lb/sq ft (252 kg/m2)
Thrust/weight: 0.56
Armament
Guns: 4× 30 mm (1.18 in) ADEN revolver cannon in a removable gun pack with 150 rpg
Hardpoints: 4 underwings (7 hardpoints on Singaporean FGA/FR.74S, essentially refurbished FGA.9 derived from F.6) with a capacity of 7,400 lb (3,400 kg), with provisions to carry combinations of:
Rockets:
4× Matra rocket pods (each with 18 × SNEB 68 mm (2.68 in) rockets) or
32× Hispano SURA R80 80 mm (3.15 in) rockets
Missiles:
4× AIM-9 Sidewinder Air-to-air missiles, mounted on Singaporean FGA/FR.74S (two on Swiss Mk.5 Dutch F6's and Swedish Mk.50)
4× AGM-65 Maverick Air-to-surface missiles, mounted on Singaporean FGA/FR.74S(two on Swiss Mk.58)
Bombs: a variety of unguided iron bombs
Other: 2× 230 US gallons (870 L; 190 imp gal) drop tanks for extended range/loitering time
Avionics
Ekco ARI 5820 ranging radar

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