DIR Return Create A Forum - Home
---------------------------------------------------------
IL2 Air Combat!
HTML https://il2freemodding.createaforum.com
---------------------------------------------------------
*****************************************************
DIR Return to: Plane of the Week Articles
*****************************************************
#Post#: 13008--------------------------------------------------
Plane of the week: the Hawker Hunter
By: vonofterdingen Date: October 12, 2020, 3:18 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
[img width=1024
height=614]
HTML https://i.postimg.cc/ZnstmH8Q/Screen-Hunter-439.png[/img]
[font=verdana] [/font][font=verdana]The Hawker Hunter seems to
have created some buzz lately; so much so that it seems to me
that it forced its own selection as Plane of the Week.
Personally, I am not much interested in jets. I will admit
though, as jets go this is certainly a good looking one with a
colorful history.[/font]
From Wikipedia
The Hawker Hunter is a transonic British jet-powered fighter
aircraft that was 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
manoeuvrable 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 licence overseas.
The Hunter F.1 entered service with the Royal Air Force in
July 1954. It was the first high-speed jet aircraft equipped
with radar and fully powered flight controls to go into
widespread service with the RAF. The Hunter replaced the Gloster
Meteor, the Canadair Sabre, and the de Havilland Venom jet
fighters in service.[36] Initially, low internal fuel capacity
restricted the Hunter's performance, giving it only a maximum
flight endurance of about an hour. A fatal accident occurred on
8 February 1956, when a flight of eight Hunters was redirected
to another airfield owing to adverse weather conditions. Six of
the eight aircraft ran out of fuel and crashed, killing one
pilot.
Another difficulty encountered during the aircraft's
introduction was the occurrence of surging and stalling with the
Avon engines. The F.2, which used the Armstrong-Siddeley
Sapphire engine, did not suffer from this issue. Further
problems occurred; ejected cannon ammunition links had a
tendency to strike and damage the underside of the fuselage, and
diverting the gas emitted by the cannon during firing was
another necessary modification. The original split-flap
airbrakes caused adverse changes in pitch trim and were quickly
replaced by a single ventral airbrake. This meant, however, that
the airbrake could not be used for landings.
To address the problem of range, a production Hunter F.1 was
fitted with a modified wing featuring bag-type fuel tanks in the
leading edge and "wet" hardpoints. The resulting Hunter F.4
first flew on 20 October 1954, and entered service in March
1955.[39] A distinctive Hunter feature added on the F.4 was the
pair of blisters under the cockpit, which collected spent
ammunition links to prevent airframe damage. Crews dubbed them
"Sabrinas" after the contemporary movie star.[33] The
Sapphire-powered version of the F.4 was designated the Hunter
F.5.
[img width=1024
height=640]
HTML https://i.postimg.cc/wMj8nZmJ/Screen-Hunter-440.png[/img]
The RAF later received Hunters equipped with an improved Avon
engine. The Avon 203 produced 10,000 lbf (44.48 kN) of thrust
and was fitted to XF833, which became the first Hunter F.6. Some
other revisions on the F.6 included a revised fuel tank layout,
the centre fuselage tanks being replaced by new ones in the rear
fuselage; the "Mod 228" wing, which has a distinctive "dogtooth"
leading edge notch to alleviate the pitch-up problem; and four
"wet" hardpoints, finally giving the aircraft a good ferry
range. The Hunter F.6 was given the company designation Hawker
P.1099.
During the Suez Crisis of 1956, Hunters of No. 1 and No. 34
Squadrons based at RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus flew escort for
English Electric Canberra bombers on offensive missions into
Egypt.[40] For most of the conflict the Hunters engaged in local
air defence due to their lack of range.
During the Brunei Revolt in 1962, the Royal Air Force
deployed Hunters and Gloster Javelins over Brunei to provide
support for British ground forces; Hunters launched both dummy
and real strafing runs on ground targets to intimidate and pin
down rebels. In one event, several Bruneian and expatriate
hostages were due to be executed by rebels. Hunter aircraft flew
over Limbang while Royal Marines from 42 Commando rescued the
hostages in a fierce battle. In the following years of the
Borneo Confrontation, Hunters were deployed along with other RAF
aircraft in Borneo and Malaya.
The Hunter F.6 was retired from its day fighter role in the
RAF by 1963, being replaced by the much faster English Electric
Lightning interceptor. Many F.6s were then given a new lease of
life in the close air support role, converting into the Hunter
FGA.9 variant. The FGA.9 saw frontline use from 1960 to 1971,
alongside the closely related Hunter FR.10 tactical
reconnaissance variant. The Hunters were also used by two RAF
display units; the "Black Arrows" of No. 111 Squadron who set a
record by looping and barrel rolling 22 Hunters in formation,
and later the "Blue Diamonds" of No. 92 Squadron who flew 16
Hunters.
In Aden in May 1964, Hunter FGA.9s and FR.10s of No. 43
Squadron RAF and No. 8 Squadron RAF were used extensively during
the Radfan campaign against insurgents attempting to overthrow
the Federation of South Arabia. SAS forces would routinely call
in air strikes that required considerable precision, and,
predominantly using 3-inch high explosive rockets and 30 mm ADEN
cannon, the Hunter proved an able ground-attack platform. Both
squadrons continued operations with their Hunters until the UK
withdrew from Aden in November 1967.
Hunters were flown by No.63, No. 234 and No. 79 Squadrons
acting in training roles for foreign and Commonwealth students.
These remained in service until after the Hawk T.1 entered
service in the mid-1970s.[48] Two-seat trainer versions of the
Hunter, the T.7 and T.8, remained in use for training and
secondary roles by the RAF and Royal Navy until the early 1990s;
when the Blackburn Buccaneer retired from service. The
requirement for Hunter trainers disappeared so the
Buccaneer-oriented trainers were retired, leaving the RN T.8Ms
to soldier on for a while longer.
Hunters were also used by the Empire Test Pilots' School at
MoD Boscombe Down. The Hunter is unusual among swept wing jet
aircraft in being able to be safely spun inverted. This would be
demonstrated to students of the school.
In 1954, India arranged to purchase Hunters as a part of a
wider arms deal with Britain, ordering 140 Hunter single-seat
fighters at the same time that Pakistan announced its purchase
of several North American F-86 Sabre jet fighters. The Indian
Air Force (IAF) was the first to operate the Hunter T.66
trainers, placing an initial order in 1957. The more powerful
engine was considered beneficial in a hot environment, allowing
for greater takeoff weights. During the 1960s, Pakistan
investigated the possibility of buying as many as 40 English
Electric Lightnings, but Britain was unenthusiastic about the
potential sales opportunity because of the damage it would do to
its relations with India, which at the time was still awaiting
the delivery of large numbers of ex-RAF Hunters.
By the outbreak of the Sino-Indian War in 1962, India had
assembled one of the largest air forces in Asia, and the Hunter
was the nation's primary and most capable interceptor. During
the conflict, the Hunter demonstrated its superiority over
China's Russian-sourced MiGs and gave India a strategic
advantage in the air. India's aerial superiority deterred
Chinese Ilyushin Il-4 bombers from attacking targets within
India. In 1962, India had selected to procure its first
supersonic-capable fighter, the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21; large
numbers of Russian-built fighters had increasingly supplemented
the aging Hunters in the interceptor role by 1970.
The Hunter was to play a major role during the Indo-Pakistani
War of 1965; along with the Gnat the Hunter was India's primary
air defence fighter, and regularly engaged in dogfights with the
Pakistani F-86 Sabres and F-104 Starfighters. The aerial war saw
both sides conducting thousands of sorties in a single month.
Both sides claimed victory in the air war, Pakistan claimed to
have destroyed 104 aircraft against its own losses of 19, while
India claimed to have destroyed 73 enemy aircraft and lost 35 of
its own. Pakistan air force ace Muhammad Mahmood Alam downed
five Hawker Hunter in a single sortie, four of which were in
less than a minute. Despite the intense fighting, the conflict
was effectively a stalemate.
IAF Hunters performed extensive operations during the
Indo-Pakistani War of 1971; India had six combat-ready squadrons
of Hunters at the start of the conflict. Pakistani infantry and
armoured forces attacked the Indian outpost of Longewala in an
event now known as the Battle of Longewala. Six IAF Hunters
stationed at Jaisalmer Air Force Base were able to halt the
Pakistani advance at Longewala by conducting non-stop bombing
raids. The aircraft attacked Pakistani tanks, armoured personnel
carriers and gun positions and contributed to the increasingly
chaotic battlefield conditions, which ultimately led to the
retreat of Pakistan's ground forces. Hunters were also used for
many ground-attack missions and raids inside Pakistan's borders,
such as the high-profile bombing of the Attock Oil refinery to
limit Pakistani fuel supplies. In the aftermath of the conflict,
Pakistan claimed to have shot down a total of 32 of India's
Hunters.
HTML https://i.postimg.cc/85HgKNjN/Screen-Hunter-438.png
In game…
I confess I am not the best person to describe how this plane
behaves in game, as I have little experience with jets (by
choice). I hope others with more experience will jump into this
thread and provide some Hunter flying tips. Today is the first
time I got in the cockpit. It is certainly a different
experience than I had last week when I jumped into the Caproni
133! Most of my other comparable jet experience has been in the
US F-86. The Hunter is very fast, even compared to
contemporaries, and handles smoothly and predictably. Another
thing that I really liked were the Hunter's cannon. There is a
lot of firepower in this thing. And be sure and check out Cafs'
beautiful collection of skins for the Hunter over in the skins
forum.
#Post#: 13028--------------------------------------------------
Re: Plane of the week: the Hawker Hunter
By: Beowolff Date: October 13, 2020, 1:40 am
---------------------------------------------------------
Ah... the BEAUTIFUL Hunter! It is so sleek and sexy! I fell in
love with this plane the very first time I saw it in an old air
book with simple line drawings.
And why not? Few planes can LOOK that good simply setting on
the runway. ;D ;D ;D
And sadly, I've not flown it in game yet, but I know that in
REAL LIFE it is just as sweet a flyer as it looks.
Excellent choice for POTW, Von! ;)
S!
Beo
#Post#: 13036--------------------------------------------------
Re: Plane of the week: the Hawker Hunter
By: JG51_Ruski Date: October 13, 2020, 9:16 am
---------------------------------------------------------
Thank You Von another well written POW article !!
#Post#: 13037--------------------------------------------------
Re: Plane of the week: the Hawker Hunter
By: cafs Date: October 13, 2020, 9:34 am
---------------------------------------------------------
She's one of the most beautiful 1950-60s aircrafts ever built,
like the Mirage, Skyhawk or Mig-21, sleek and looking fast even
parked in a revetment.
Very easy to fly, a simple analogic cockpit to learn and with a
big punch for such a small plane.
Built as an interceptor, it has a great Mud Moving capacity for
the era, specially on the FMk-6 and the, built as a true
fighter-bomber, FGA-9.
Thanks for this great PoW.👍🏅
*****************************************************