The Hawker Cygnet was a British ultralight biplane aircraft of the 1920s.

Background

In 1924, the

Royal Aero Club The Royal Aero Club (RAeC) is the national co-ordinating body for air sport in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1901 as the Aero Club of Great Britain, being granted the title of the "Royal Aero Club" in 1910. History The Aero Club was foun ...

organized a Light Aircraft Competition. £3000 was offered in prizes. An entry was made by Hawker Aircraft, which was a design by Sydney Camm, the Cygnet. Camm had joined Hawker the previous year. Two aircraft were built (''G-EBMB'' and ''G-EBJH'') and were entered in the competition, held in 1924 at

Lympne Aerodrome Lympne Airport , was a military and later civil airfield , at Lympne, Kent, United Kingdom, which operated from 1916 to 1984. During the First World War RFC Lympne was originally an acceptance point for aircraft being delivered to, and returni ...

, by T. O. M. Sopwith and

Fred Sigrist Reid and Sigrist was an English engineering company based at New Malden in Surrey. It later acquired sites at Desford and Braunstone in Leicestershire. Initially it developed and manufactured aircraft instrumentation and pilot selection aids but ...

. The aircraft were flown by Longton and Raynham and came in 4th and 3rd places respectively. In 1925, ''G-EBMB'' was entered again in the 100 mi (161 km) International Handicap Race, this time flown by George Bulman, who won at a speed of 75.6 mph (121.7 km/h). At the same meeting, the Cygnet came in 2nd in the 50 mi (80 km) Light Aeroplane Race. In 1926, both aircraft were entered in the competition piloted by Bulman and Flying Officer Ragg, taking first and second place respectively. HCygnet

Design

The aircraft were of wood-and-fabric construction, the fuselage being four longerons-strutted in the fashion of a

Warren girder A truss bridge is a bridge whose load-bearing superstructure is composed of a truss, a structure of connected elements, usually forming triangular units. The connected elements (typically straight) may be stressed from tension, compression, or ...

. The wing had two box spars with Warren truss ribs. Initially the two aircraft were powered, one by an

Anzani Anzani was an engine manufacturer founded by the Italian Alessandro Anzani (1877–1956), which produced proprietary engines for aircraft, cars, boats, and motorcycles in factories in Britain, France and Italy. Overview From his native Italy, An ...

, and the other by an

ABC Scorpion The ABC Scorpion is a 30 hp (22 kW) two-cylinder aero engine designed by British engineer Granville Bradshaw for use in light aircraft. The engine was built by ABC Motors Limited and first ran in 1921.Gunston 1989, p.9. Variants ; ...

(both opposed twin-cylinder engines). In 1926 the engines in both Cygnets were changed to the

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

Cherub III, another twin-cylinder engine. The airframe weighed a remarkably low 270 lb, and its weight when empty was only 373 lb.

Postwar history

''G-EBMB'' was kept by Hawker in storage until 1946, when it was refurbished and reassembled at Hawker's Langley Aerodrome. It was later transferred to their new facility at Dunsfold, where it stayed, being flown to various displays and airshows, until 1972, when it was transferred for exhibition at the

Royal Air Force Museum The Royal Air Force Museum is a museum dedicated to the Royal Air Force in the United Kingdom. The museum is a non-departmental public body of the Ministry of Defence and is a registered charity. The museum is split into two separate sites: * ...

at Hendon. More recently it has been transferred to its site at

RAF Cosford Royal Air Force Cosford or RAF Cosford (formerly DCAE Cosford) is a Royal Air Force station in Cosford, Shropshire, just to the northwest of Wolverhampton and next to Albrighton. History Origins RAF Cosford opened in 1938 as a joint aircraf ...

Shropshire Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to ...

, where it can now be seen. An airworthy replica is on display at the

Shuttleworth Collection The Shuttleworth Collection is a working aeronautical and automotive collection located at the Old Warden Aerodrome, Old Warden in Bedfordshire, England. It is the oldest in the world and one of the most prestigious, due to the variety of old a ...

Old Warden Old Warden is a village and civil parish in the Central Bedfordshire district of the county of Bedfordshire, England, about south-east of the county town of Bedford. The 2011 census shows its population as 328. The Shuttleworth Collection of ...

Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated Beds) is a ceremonial county in the East of England. The county has been administered by three unitary authorities, Borough of Bedford, Central Bedfordshire and Borough of Luton, since Bedfordshire County Council ...

.Aircraft: 1924-Hawker Cygnet
''Shuttleworth Collection''. Retrieved 16 August 2008.

Specifications

References

Notes

Bibliography

*Mason, Francis K. ''Hawker Aircraft since 1920''. London:Putnam, 1991..

External links

Hawker Cygnet
– British Aircraft Directory {{Hawker Aircraft aircraft 1920s British civil utility aircraft

Cygnet A cygnet is a young swan. Cygnet may also refer to: Places * Cygnet Island, a small islet in south-eastern Australia *Cygnet, Ohio, a village in the United States *Cygnet River, South Australia, a locality on Kangaroo Island * Cygnet, Tasmania, ...

Single-engined tractor aircraft Sesquiplanes Aircraft first flown in 1924 Biplanes