Hawker Hunter FGA.9
Following the moderate success of the Hawker Sea Hawk naval attack aircraft, Hawker began work on a version with a more powerful engine and swept wings, the P.1052, in 1948. While promising, work on the P.1052 and the more advanced P.1081 never progressed beyond the prototype stage. Hawker saw potential in the design, and famous British aircraft designer Sydney Camm began reworking it as the P.1067 to fufill the RAF’s requirement for a day interceptor. This first flew in July 1951 as the Hunter.
While abysmally short-ranged, the Hunter displayed superb maneuverability and transonic speed, and so was placed in production as the Hunter F.1 (Avon engine) and F.2 (Sapphire engine). Some problems were quickly identified: besides its short range, the intakes did not pull in enough air for the Avon engine (the Sapphire did not share these problems) and it had a tendency to flame out. Both versions shared problems with ejected shells striking and damaging the fuselage at high speed, canopy fogging, and problems with the ventral airbrakes. Hawker went back to the drawing board and produced the Hunter F.3, with an improved Avon, revised airbrakes, and a more pointed nose for improved aerodynamics; this was followed by the F.4 with a slightly larger wing, more fuel capacity, and blisters under the nose to collect spent shells. Finally, the design culminated with the Hunter F.6, which incorporated all the improvements of the F.4, had a redesigned wing with dogtooth leading edges for improved performance, and finally fixed the Avon’s problems with a new compressor and fuel system.
The Hunter F.6—subsequently modified as the FGA.9 to carry air-to-ground ordnance, as the English Electric Lightning replaced it as an interceptor—proved to be every bit as successful as Camm had hoped. Fast and very manueverable, even if the range problem was never wholly solved, the Hunter was also reliable and rugged. 23 air forces would eventually adopt the Hunter, and it saw active combat service in nearly every war in the mid-20th Century with the exception of Vietnam. The RAF used it in Aden (Yemen) against sepratist insurgents, while Pakistani-flown Iraqi Hunters and Jordanian Hunters proved to be the only real challenge to Israeli Mirage IIIs before and during the Six-Day War of 1967.
The air force using the Hunter most extensively was India’s, who used it in both the 1965 and 1971 Indo-Pakistani Wars, mainly in the ground attack role, where it excelled. The Hunter also was exceptionally long-lived, remaining in service into the 21st Century with a few air forces. India did not retire their Hunters until 2002, while Swiss Hunters (refitted to carry both AIM-9 Sidewinders and AGM-65 Maverick missiles) stayed in frontline service until replaced by the F/A-18 Hornet in 1996. Zimbabwe may still retain a few, and as recently as 2007, Lebanon is putting its stored Hunters back into service. The RAF, the original customer, still flies three Hunters as research aircraft. Finally, there are 36 Hunters flying with private companies as warbirds, research aircraft, and aggressors.
(The following is a fictional history of a fictional air force.)
The FIRAF had initially considered acquiring Hunters as early as 1974 as point-defense interceptors, until the USAF began offering Century Series aircraft as interim fighters until the FIRAF could afford “teen” fighters like the F-15 and F-16. Nonetheless, Minister of Defense Akela Canis went ahead with buying second-hand Hunters as lead-in fighter trainers; in his words, “We’re going to have a lot of kids flying very expensive hot aircraft, so let’s give them a bit of a taste of one before we turn them loose.”
With this in mind, the FIRAF purchased six two-seat Hunter T.75As and three FGA.74s from Singapore in 1977, assigning them to the newly-formed 47th Training Squadron. Refurbished by Intelani Aeronautics, these entered service in July of that year; the FGA.74s were somewhat confusingly redesignated FGA.9s. (The FIRAF never adopted American-style designations for the Hunter.) These aircraft were to become popular and a fixture at North American airshows. With the arrival of the T-38A Talon in FIRAF service, it was decided to retire the Hunters in January 1984.
(Back in the real world...)
After seeing the real thing as a kid in Germany, I'd always been intrigued by the Hunter. When Revell released a 1/144 kit of a FGA.9, I had to get one. I did it in an overall white training aircraft scheme, with blue and red highlights. The fuel tanks are a different color to break up the monotony of an all-white finish. All the markings were done by hand; I really need to go back and redo those, as ballpoint pen has not held up very well.
Hawker Hunter FGA.9
Following the moderate success of the Hawker Sea Hawk naval attack aircraft, Hawker began work on a version with a more powerful engine and swept wings, the P.1052, in 1948. While promising, work on the P.1052 and the more advanced P.1081 never progressed beyond the prototype stage. Hawker saw potential in the design, and famous British aircraft designer Sydney Camm began reworking it as the P.1067 to fufill the RAF’s requirement for a day interceptor. This first flew in July 1951 as the Hunter.
While abysmally short-ranged, the Hunter displayed superb maneuverability and transonic speed, and so was placed in production as the Hunter F.1 (Avon engine) and F.2 (Sapphire engine). Some problems were quickly identified: besides its short range, the intakes did not pull in enough air for the Avon engine (the Sapphire did not share these problems) and it had a tendency to flame out. Both versions shared problems with ejected shells striking and damaging the fuselage at high speed, canopy fogging, and problems with the ventral airbrakes. Hawker went back to the drawing board and produced the Hunter F.3, with an improved Avon, revised airbrakes, and a more pointed nose for improved aerodynamics; this was followed by the F.4 with a slightly larger wing, more fuel capacity, and blisters under the nose to collect spent shells. Finally, the design culminated with the Hunter F.6, which incorporated all the improvements of the F.4, had a redesigned wing with dogtooth leading edges for improved performance, and finally fixed the Avon’s problems with a new compressor and fuel system.
The Hunter F.6—subsequently modified as the FGA.9 to carry air-to-ground ordnance, as the English Electric Lightning replaced it as an interceptor—proved to be every bit as successful as Camm had hoped. Fast and very manueverable, even if the range problem was never wholly solved, the Hunter was also reliable and rugged. 23 air forces would eventually adopt the Hunter, and it saw active combat service in nearly every war in the mid-20th Century with the exception of Vietnam. The RAF used it in Aden (Yemen) against sepratist insurgents, while Pakistani-flown Iraqi Hunters and Jordanian Hunters proved to be the only real challenge to Israeli Mirage IIIs before and during the Six-Day War of 1967.
The air force using the Hunter most extensively was India’s, who used it in both the 1965 and 1971 Indo-Pakistani Wars, mainly in the ground attack role, where it excelled. The Hunter also was exceptionally long-lived, remaining in service into the 21st Century with a few air forces. India did not retire their Hunters until 2002, while Swiss Hunters (refitted to carry both AIM-9 Sidewinders and AGM-65 Maverick missiles) stayed in frontline service until replaced by the F/A-18 Hornet in 1996. Zimbabwe may still retain a few, and as recently as 2007, Lebanon is putting its stored Hunters back into service. The RAF, the original customer, still flies three Hunters as research aircraft. Finally, there are 36 Hunters flying with private companies as warbirds, research aircraft, and aggressors.
(The following is a fictional history of a fictional air force.)
The FIRAF had initially considered acquiring Hunters as early as 1974 as point-defense interceptors, until the USAF began offering Century Series aircraft as interim fighters until the FIRAF could afford “teen” fighters like the F-15 and F-16. Nonetheless, Minister of Defense Akela Canis went ahead with buying second-hand Hunters as lead-in fighter trainers; in his words, “We’re going to have a lot of kids flying very expensive hot aircraft, so let’s give them a bit of a taste of one before we turn them loose.”
With this in mind, the FIRAF purchased six two-seat Hunter T.75As and three FGA.74s from Singapore in 1977, assigning them to the newly-formed 47th Training Squadron. Refurbished by Intelani Aeronautics, these entered service in July of that year; the FGA.74s were somewhat confusingly redesignated FGA.9s. (The FIRAF never adopted American-style designations for the Hunter.) These aircraft were to become popular and a fixture at North American airshows. With the arrival of the T-38A Talon in FIRAF service, it was decided to retire the Hunters in January 1984.
(Back in the real world...)
After seeing the real thing as a kid in Germany, I'd always been intrigued by the Hunter. When Revell released a 1/144 kit of a FGA.9, I had to get one. I did it in an overall white training aircraft scheme, with blue and red highlights. The fuel tanks are a different color to break up the monotony of an all-white finish. All the markings were done by hand; I really need to go back and redo those, as ballpoint pen has not held up very well.