Harrier
Hawker Harrier prototype at A &AEE
General information
Type	Torpedo bomber
National origin	United Kingdom
Manufacturer	Hawker Aircraft Limited
Designer	Sydney Camm
Number built	1
History
First flight	February 1927

TheHawker Harrier was a British experimental biplane torpedo bomber aircraft built byHawker Aircraft to a specification issued in the 1920s for theRoyal Air Force.

In 1925, the British Air Ministry laid down specifications for a high altitude bomber to replace theHawker Horsley and for a coastal torpedo bomber (Specifications 23/25 and 24/25). As these specifications were similar, the Air Ministry announced that a single competition would be held to study aircraft submitted for both specifications.^[1]

Sydney Camm ofHawker Aircraft designed the Harrier to meet the requirements of Specification 23/25, with the prototype (J8325) first flying in February 1927, the first of the competitors for the two specifications to fly.^[1] The Harrier was a two-seat biplane with single-bay wings powered by a gearedBristol Jupiter VIII radial engine. It was armed with one .303 in (7.7 mm)Vickers machine gun and one .303 in (7.7 mm)Lewis gun carrying a maximum of 1,000 lb (450 kg) of bombs.^[2]

The prototype Harrier was tested at theAeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment (A & AEE) atMartlesham Heath in November 1927, where, while it met the requirements of Specification 23/25 and had satisfactory handling, the geared engine meant that it was underpowered,^[2] and it had an inferior bombload to the Hawker Horsley, the aircraft it was meant to replace.^[1] It was therefore modified to carry a torpedo. On testing the modified aircraft, however, it was found to still be underpowered, being incapable of taking off with a torpedo, gunner and full fuel load.^[1] It was therefore not considered further, the competition ultimately being won by theVickers Vildebeest.^[3]

The prototype was used byBristol as an engine testbed, flying with the 870 hp (650 kW)Bristol Hydra and the 495 hp (369 kW)Bristol Orion engines.^[1]

Data from Mason, The British Bomber since 1914^[1]

General characteristics

• Crew: two
• Length: 29 ft 7 in (9.02 m)
• Wingspan: 46 ft 3 in (14.10 m)
• Height: 13 ft 4 in (4.06 m)
• Wing area: 496.8 sq ft (46.15 m²)
• Empty weight: 3,278 lb (1,487 kg)
• Gross weight: 5,656 lb (2,566 kg)
• Fuel capacity: 191 imp gal (229 US gal; 870 L)^[4]
• Powerplant: 1 ×Bristol Jupiter VIII nine-cylinder gearedradial engine, 583 hp (435 kW)
• Propellers: 2-bladed Watts wooden propeller, 12 ft 3 in (3.73 m) diameter^[4]

Performance

• Maximum speed: 135 mph (217 km/h, 117 kn) at 6,500 ft (2,000 m)
• Service ceiling: 20,000 ft (6,100 m)
• Time to altitude: 18 min 30 s

Armament

• Guns: 1 × forward firing .303 in (7.7 mm)Vickers gun and 1 × .303 in (7.7 mm)Lewis gun onScarff ring in rear cockpit
• Bombs:^[4]
  • 4× 250 lb (110 kg) GP bombsor
  • 8× 112 lb (51 kg) bombsor
  • 1× Type VIII 2,844 lb (1,290 kg) torpedo

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era

• Blackburn Beagle
• Vickers Vildebeest

• Lewis, Peter (1980).The British Bomber since 1914 (Third ed.). London: Putnam.ISBN 0-370-30265-6.
• Mason, Francis K. (1994).The British Bomber since 1914. London: Putnam Aeronautical Books.ISBN 0-85177-861-5.
• Mason, Francis K. (1991).Hawker Aircraft since 1920 (Third ed.). London: Putnam Aeronautical Books.ISBN 0-85177-839-9.

Wikimedia Commons has media related toHawker Harrier.

• Hawker Harrier – British Aircraft Directory

• 1920s British bomber aircraft
• Hawker aircraft
• Single-engined tractor aircraft
• Biplanes
• Aircraft first flown in 1927
• Aircraft with fixed conventional landing gear
• Single-engined piston aircraft

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