The Hawker Hawfinch was a British single-engined biplane fighter of the 1920s. It was unsuccessful, with the

Bristol Bulldog The Bristol Bulldog is a British Royal Air Force single-seat biplane fighter designed during the 1920s by the Bristol Aeroplane Company. More than 400 Bulldogs were produced for the RAF and overseas customers, and it was one of the most fa ...

being selected instead.

Development

The Hawker Hawfinch fighter aircraft was designed in 1925 as a replacement for both the Armstrong-Whitworth Siskin and the

Gloster Gamecock The Gloster Gamecock was a biplane fighter designed and produced by the British aircraft manufacturer Gloster. The Gamecock was a development of the earlier Grebe Mk III, an early interwar fighter procured by the Royal Air Force (RAF). Wor ...

fighters. It participated in the competition to meet Specification F9/26, together with other aircraft manufacturers, that included nine different designs, of which five were built. The Hawfinch first flew in March 1927. The

and the Hawfinch were considered to be the best of the aircraft evaluated, and were selected for more detailed evaluation. The contract was finally awarded to the

, because of its slightly higher maximum speed as well as being easier to maintain.Crawford, Alex. ''Bristol Bulldog & Gloster Gauntlet''. (Mushroom Model Magazine #6166). London: Mushroom Model Publications, 2005. After the completion of the competition, the prototype Hawfinch was used for experimental purposes, being tested with single-bay wings and with a twin-float undercarriage. Only one prototype was built.

Description

The Hawfinch was a two-bay

biplane A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two main wings stacked one above the other. The first powered, controlled aeroplane to fly, the Wright Flyer, used a biplane wing arrangement, as did many aircraft in the early years of aviation. While ...

with staggered wings. The structure was the patented Hawker metal tube & "

fishplate A fishplate joins two lengths of track A fishplate, splice bar or joint bar is a metal connecting plate used to bolt the ends of two rails into a continuous track. The name is derived from ''fish'', a wooden reinforcement of a "built-up" ship's ...

" system, with fabric covering. It was the first all-metal fighter to be built by Hawker. The powerplant was initially a

Bristol Jupiter The Bristol Jupiter was a British nine-cylinder single-row piston radial engine built by the Bristol Aeroplane Company. Originally designed late in World War I and known as the Cosmos Jupiter, a lengthy series of upgrades and developments turn ...

VI engine, but this was changed to a Jupiter VII (450 hp/336 kW) before the performance trials. The armament consisted of two

Vickers machine guns The Vickers machine gun or Vickers gun is a water-cooled .303 British (7.7 mm) machine gun produced by Vickers Limited, originally for the British Army. The gun was operated by a three-man crew but typically required more men to move and o ...

synchronised to fire through the propeller.

Specifications (Hawfinch (Jupiter VII))

References

* {{Hawker Aircraft aircraft 1920s British fighter aircraft

Hawfinch The hawfinch (''Coccothraustes coccothraustes'') is a passerine bird in the finch family Fringillidae. It is the only species placed in the genus ''Coccothraustes''. Its closest living relatives are the Chinese grosbeak (''Eophona migratoria'') ...

Single-engined tractor aircraft Biplanes Aircraft first flown in 1927

Development

Description

Specifications (Hawfinch (Jupiter VII))

See also

References