Hawker P.1052
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The Hawker P.1052 was a British experimental aircraft built by Hawker Aircraft Limited for trials with swept wings.


Design and development

The origins of the P.1052 were in a 1945 design study by the Hawker design team for a development of the P.1040 using swept back wings. Interest was not shown by the
Ministry of Supply The Ministry of Supply (MoS) was a department of the UK government formed in 1939 to co-ordinate the supply of equipment to all three British armed forces, headed by the Minister of Supply. A separate ministry, however, was responsible for aircr ...
until the spring of 1946 when Air Ministry specification E.38/46 (to undertake studies into the aerodynamic properties of swept wings) was issued, and a contract awarded in May 1947 for Hawker to supply two prototypes. A 35 degree sweep in the wings was the most significant aerodynamic innovation in the P.1052, relative to the P.1040. This feature was developed in conjunction with the RAE at Farnborough. In addition, the tailplane was cropped to a shorter span (by removing the rounded tips on the P.1040) and was adjustable in incidence to allow changes in trim at the anticipated higher speeds. The first prototype ( ''VX272'') was ready in time for static exhibition at the 1948 S.B.A.C Farnborough display, but permission was withheld on grounds of secrecy. It first flew on 19 November 1948, with the second prototype (''VX279'') flying on 13 April 1949. In late 1949 or early 1950, following tests on a third, non-flying airframe, ''VX272'' had both wings and fuselage strengthened. At around the same time, ''VX279'' was fitted with a variable incidence tailplane. During 1950, ''VX279'' was significantly rebuilt, with a single jet outlet and swept empennage; it was subsequently given a separate designation, as the
Hawker P.1081 The Hawker P.1081, also known as the "Australian Fighter" was a prototype United Kingdom, British jet aircraft from the mid-twentieth century. The single example built was destroyed in a crash in 1951. Design and development In 1949, the Roya ...
. ''VX272'' was retro-fitted with the original rear fuselage of ''VX279'' – after strengthening and installation of an arrestor hook. ''VX272'' was also fitted with a bullet-type fairing at the tailplane-fin intersection, which improved its high-speed behaviour. In May 1952, with the addition of a long-stroke undercarriage (from a Sea Hawk), ''VX272'' undertook take-off and landing trials on board . In June the same year, it received a final modification: a variable incidence swept tailplane, after which it flew high-speed trials with the RAE. These were terminated and ''VX272'' was removed from service in September 1953, following a forced landing. The focus of research at Hawker was transferred to the P.1067, which would become better known as the
Hawker Hunter 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-R ...
. No further examples of the P.1052 were built. In hindsight, the P.1052 may be seen as part of a transition from the centrifugally powered, straight-winged Sea Hawk to the axially powered, swept-wing Hunter. The P.1078 – a variant in which the P.1052 was to have been augmented by a small built-in rocket engine (i.e. the Armstrong Siddeley Snarler), became the subject of a design study. However, because work on another rocket-powered design – the P.1040-based
Hawker P.1072 The Hawker P.1072 was a 1949 experimental British aircraft acting as a test bed for the Armstrong Siddeley Snarler rocket booster engine. It was the prototype Hawker Sea Hawk modified to install the rocket in the tail. Development After the S ...
(which had un-swept wings) – was significantly advanced, the P.1078 was never built.


Aircraft on display

The first prototype ''VX272'' is displayed at the
Fleet Air Arm Museum The Fleet Air Arm Museum is devoted to the history of British naval aviation. It has an extensive collection of military and civilian aircraft, aero engines, models of aircraft and Royal Navy ships (especially aircraft carriers), and paintin ...
,
Yeovilton Yeovilton is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Yeovilton and District, in Somerset, England, east of Ilchester and north of Yeovil, in South Somerset district. The parish had a population of 1,226 in the 2011 census, est ...
.


Operators

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Royal Aircraft Establishment The Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE) was a British research establishment, known by several different names during its history, that eventually came under the aegis of the Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom), UK Ministry of Defence (MoD), bef ...


Specifications (P.1052)


Citations


Bibliography

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Further reading

* Green, William and Cross, Roy. ''The Jet Aircraft of the World''. London: Macdonald and Company, 1955. * Hannah, Donald. ''Hawker FlyPast Reference Library''. Stamford, Lincolnshire, UK: Key Publishing Ltd., 1982. . * James, Derek N. ''Hawker, an Aircraft Album No. 5''. New York: Arco Publishing Company, 1973. . (First published in the UK by Ian Allan in 1972) * Mason, Francis K. ''Hawker Aircraft since 1920''. London: Putnam, 1991. {{Hawker Aircraft aircraft 1940s British experimental aircraft P1052 Single-engined jet aircraft Mid-wing aircraft Cruciform tail aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1948