Hawker had its roots in the aftermath of theFirst World War, which resulted in the bankruptcy of theSopwith Aviation Company. Sopwith test pilotHarry Hawker and three others, includingThomas Sopwith, bought the assets of Sopwith and formedH. G. Hawker Engineering in 1920.[1]
The company continued to produce designs under the "Hawker" name as part of Hawker Siddeley Aircraft, which from 1955 was a division ofHawker Siddeley Group. In 1963, the "Hawker" brand name was dropped, along with those of the sister companies; theHawker P.1127 was the last aircraft to carry the brand name.
The Hawker legacy was maintained by the American companyRaytheon, which producedbusiness jets (including some derived from the125, whose original design dated back to de Havilland days) under the "Hawker" name. This was the result of purchasingBritish Aerospace's product line in 1993. The name was also used byHawker Beechcraft after Raytheon's business jet interests (Hawker andBeechcraft) were acquired by investors and merged.
The first Hawker design was the unbuilt Hawker Humpback of December 1920.[2] This was soon followed by theHawker Duiker, the first prototype, which flew in July 1923.[3] In theinterwar years, Hawker produced a successful line of bombers and fighters for theRoyal Air Force, the product ofSydney Camm (later Sir Sydney) and his team. These included theHawker Hind and theHawker Hart, which became the most produced UK aeroplane in the years before the Second World War.[4]
During the Second World War, the Hawker Siddeley company was one of the United Kingdom's most important aviation concerns, producing numerous designs including the famousHawker Hurricane fighter plane that, along with theSupermarine Spitfire, was instrumental in winning theBattle of Britain. During the battle, Hawker Hurricanes in service outnumbered all other British fighters combined, and were responsible for shooting down 55 per cent of all enemy aircraft destroyed.[citation needed]
James, Derek N. (1973) [First published in the UK by Ian Allan in 1972].Hawker, an Aircraft Album No. 5. New York: Arco Publishing Company.ISBN0-668-02699-5.
Mason, Francis K. (1991).Hawker Aircraft since 1920 (3rd revised ed.). London: Putnam & Company.ISBN0-85177-839-9..
Braybrook, Roy (1987).Hunter (1st ed.). London: Osprey publishing ltd.ISBN0-85045-751-3..
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