Hawker Hunter - Your thoughts needed...

[Jumbojet380]

Hello Everyone,

As some of you may be aware for my A2 Product Design piece I am designing a commemorative piece of furniture inspired by the Hawker Hunter - it being it's 60th anniversary last year. I'm well into the design and construction stages now but the guidance I've been given on my coursework for my research is I need to show why the Hunter is to special to people and why it's such an important and advised aircraft.
So this is where your help could come in please,

If people could just spare a few minutes to post anything they feel about the Hawker Hunter; why it's special to them. And stories or personal connections. Or why they think it's such a famous and successful aircraft. And if you don't mind adding your age to the post to as it's all part of my product research and should hopefully add alot of marks to my project.


Many Thanks,
Peter Reoch

[wokka]

Thats a pretty good description Jem. It looks just right. When they made it, everything was in the right place to be aesthetically pleasing! My Dad was only in the RAF for a couple of years, but he worked on the Hunter and said they always seemed to be cleaner than any other plane. As though everybody who walked past just gave it a quick polish with their sleeve on the way through.

43 (Dad would have been 78 this year)

[Sparts99]

It's a design classic isn't it ? First flew in 1951 and is such a good design that it's still being used by the military albeit under lease from civilian companies, perfect combination of style and function. It's ten years older than me, you do the maths.

EDIT - Also you can see the Hawker/Sydney Camm lineage in it too, right up to the fin & rudder shape on Harriers and Hawks.

[Bucky P]

Its all been said above but the one thing that comes to mind every time I see one is that it doesn't look out of place when sitting next to the aircraft of today. Many other aircraft look dated and antiquated but the Hunter has such a classic shape that it almost looks like it's a recent design. I also feel that it's what other newer fighter aircraft aspire to be!
A timeless classic, a beautiful aircraft, the Mona Lisa with wings!

Age 45.

[NAM Updater]

Here at Newark we have a Swift and a Hunter sat side by side and you often hear visitors making the comment that one aircraft “looks just right” and the other doesn’t – for the most part they are referring to the Hunter when they say that it “looks just right!”.

In my opinion its sleek elegant lines look as good today as they did when I first saw them operating at RAF Chivenor in the early 1970s – in my opinion it’s a classic British jet fighter with an iconic feel.

Don’t forget that its functionality is still valued by the Armed Forces today, which is emphasised by the contract work that the Hunter has recently undertaken.

Howard H (52)

[BigDan]

As others have said, the Hunter is something that just looks "right". Having done a surface restoration on a T7 (read:wash...T-cut...wash...polish the entire aircraft) I can say I haven't seen an angle where you could call it ugly. In the few occasions I have spoken with people that have worked on and/or flown them, they fly right too.

I am one of the volunteer staff down at Kemble on the Cotswold Airport Events Team and just never tire of watching...hearing and in some cases feeling the Avon start up prior to taxiing out for departure. When we had one parked next to Typhoon at one of the Junes shows, it was like parking an E-type Jaguar next to a Mitsi Evo X. You'd love to have a play in the typhoon but you'd fallen in love with the Hunter.

I think my favorite experience however was watching Andy Cubin flying a sunset display for the opening of the new hangar for the now departed DeltaJets. The Black T7 (WV318) Low level, really tight, right over the airfield, better than any of the show displays I've seen before or since.

Dan (33)

[SteveS]

For me it's the origins. As mentioned it's a British aircraft through and through, from a time when we were a world leader in aviation design. It harks back to those eras where jet aircraft were new and there were huge leaps forward in technology, design, power, speed. They're still flying today in many different roles, display aircraft, heritage flights, ZZ190 and ZZ191 and I believe there's still some serving - we saw some pics recently from some far flung place.

Plus, it's beautiful! (At least in single seater guise)

Steve (28)

[Rotörhead]

Very, very beautiful to look at. Sounds great... Especially the Blue Note!

The fact that after 60 years of flying it is still in military service in some parts of the world PROVES it's great! AND there's loads still flying in civillian hands!

One of my favourites.

Oli, age 14.

[paulziets]

For me, it's the memory of a "classic war" live firing training exercise at Kodwayo Range, Zimbabwe, in 1974. I was in the Rhodesian Corps of Engineers, playing the role of enemy when we were "attacked" by a squadron of the Royal Rhodesian Air Force Hawker Hunter FGA 9s. The noise and fear factor they induced was absolutely incredible, especially to a newly trained 18 year old sapper!

A few years later, in 1981, I was privileged to be treated to a wheels-down low fly-past at the airstrip on the same range, by an FGA 9. The Hunter is a magnificent aircraft, and for me brings back bitter sweet memories of a past life.

Paul(56)

[swingy]

It was the mount used by 111 to loop the largest number of aircraft in formation

[garyscott]

Purposefully graceful, timelessly classic, enviable pedigree and British through and through. Its one of those designs that you cannot pass by without casting an admiring glance. For me though, i love hearing that 'blue' note in pristine blue summer skies, and watching - not a man control a machine - but a pilot and British icon enjoy the pairing that enables them to complement each other, soar high and fast and free, and show that true British aircraft can indeed be truly stuff of legend.

I need a lie-down now . . . .

Im 36.

[Andyph]

Hawker advertised the machine as " the greatest fighter in the world" in the early 60s.
They are also still in frontline service ... just!

[Figure8]

It is one of my favourite aircraft and was a regular sight over my house on its forays into wales from RAF Chivenor. As a young lad I was so excited to see and hear them and made regular visits to the range at Pembrey to watch them in action. The aircraft looks right from every angle and has a beautiful big wing. It is just a classic British design with a tremendous pedigree and I hope they are still around when I finally pop my clogs.

Art (56)

[swingy]

SWINGY. I was at Farnborough and saw that formation loop!. Was at Thunder City, Cape Town in 2005, and the yellow hunter [the one without the tiger nose] was one of those aircraft, still flying.

you lucky man.

[Enobob]

AAAHHHH!!!

Some common sense hear folk please!

The Hunter was indeed a beautiful aeroplane, but it never 'led the world' wasn't a 'huge increase in technology' and it is no more or less British than the Supermarine Swift, Short Sperrin or the Avro Ashton!

To add a touch of realism here it must be remembered that the Hunter was entering service as the US was introducing the F-102 Delta Dagger, when it entered service after a much delayed and problematic development programme (which is why the UK had to take over 400 F-86 Sabres as stopgaps) it suffered real problems with engine surging and stalling at height, was not initially able to fire it's guns without the engine stopping, had airbrake positioning problems and suffered from chronic lack of endurance and range.
It was replaced as the RAF frontline fighter with undue haste by the Lightning and was gone from the frontline of the RAF as an interceptor by 1962, hardly "the greatest fighter in the world" as someone claims Hawker Siddeley stated it was in 1962!

As for it being "British through and through" the majority of its production was funded by the USA as a part of their off shore procurement funding programme.

As to it becoming a legend, the actual legend is the fact that it was an outdated design and was a superb replacement for the Spitfire or the Meteor F8 as a short ranged, visual day only, non supersonic, fair weather fighter in an age where level flight supersonic/allweather performance and capability with radar guided air to air missiles was what was required and needed.

But it was very VERY pretty...

[garyscott]

it must be remembered that the Hunter was entering service as the US was introducing the F-102 Delta Dagger - (retired 1979 - Hunter still going!), when it entered service after a much delayed and problematic development programme (which is why the UK had to take over 400 F-86 Sabres as stopgaps) it suffered real problems with engine surging and stalling at height, was not initially able to fire it's guns without the engine stopping, had airbrake positioning problems and suffered from chronic lack of endurance and range. (every aircraft has gestational problems!)
It was replaced as the RAF frontline fighter with undue haste by the Lightning and was gone from the frontline of the RAF as an interceptor by 1962 (yet still used until the '90's!), hardly "the greatest fighter in the world" as someone claims Hawker Siddeley stated it was in 1962!

As for it being "British through and through" the majority of its production was funded by the USA as a part of their off shore procurement funding programme. (Lets say you were born in Britain, but all your money came from your american uncle, are you British, or American then??)

As to it becoming a legend, the actual legend is the fact that it was an outdated design and was a superb replacement for the Spitfire or the Meteor F8 as a short ranged, visual day only, non supersonic, fair weather fighter (That was the Design brief!) in an age where level flight supersonic/allweather performance and capability with radar guided air to air missiles was what was required and needed.

But it was very VERY pretty...

[PR9]

Regardless of how much more "ahead" US/Russian fighters were at the time, the Hunter has seen them all off and is still in front-line use. Not the world's best, but a darn good aircraft. Also a huge export success.

[Jumbojet380]

Thank-you to everyone who has responded. I've been doing the write up of my research over the past few days. I'll post some photos of the finished model of the furniture later on in the year.

[Phartycr0c]

The jet Spitfire!

[SteveS]

Like that reply garyscott. The Hunter held the world air speed record in a time when it was being broken every few months. So there were huge leaps in technology at the time, maybe not the Hunter itself, but the Hunter made the transition from straight to swept wing, as did the Sabre/Super Sabre at around the same time. It was a time when aircraft throughout the globe were evolving hugely and the Hunter arcs back to that period - and it still flying, in air force service.

Chronic lack of endurance - is that how we describe the Spitfire as well?

Steve