Why this 1950s British fighter was still serving in 2014

In the early 1950s, the RAF had a big problem. Having brought the first generation of jet fighters like the Gloster Meteor into service, they suddenly found them outclassed. Royal Australian Air Force Meteors were coming up short against North Korean Mig-15s in the skies over Korea and something had to be done. The RAF purchased the North American Sabre as a stop-gap. But for the long term, they decided to rush a brand new second-generation fighter into production. That aircraft would become the Hawker Hunter.

The Hunter initially had a number of problems. But once they were ironed out the aircraft became a huge success for the British aircraft industry - exported to over 20 nations worldwide. The Hunter flew in a range of conflicts with the RAF such as Suez and Aden, including in a ground attack role. It also became a favourite at air shows for display teams like the Blue Diamonds and Black Arrows. Finally, a Hunter F.6 just like the one at IWM Duxford was flown through Tower Bridge by pilot Alan Pollock, a story which has entered RAF legend.

In this episode of Duxford in Depth, Liam Shaw examines the Hawker Hunter's innovative design, explaining how it changed through various iterations. He also looks at its role in conflicts like Aden and Suez, its use as a display aircraft for the Black Diamonds and in that very famous incident at Tower Bridge.

Attributions:

RAF 100th Anniversary photographs / © Crown Copyright

Hawker Hunter T7 'WV372 - R' (G-BXFI) / Alan Wilson / CC BY-SA 2.0
Shoreham Airshow Crash Tributes / HarrisonS4433 / CC BY-SA 3.0

#history #aircraft #hunter

[GintaPPE]

Still flying in regular service as aggressors over here in the US. There's a fleet of 20 or so owned by ATAC, a private contractor based out of Newport News. Crazy to think this jet that took its first flight into skies filled with WWII warbirds is now regularly flying alongside F-22s and F-35s.

[Jon.A.Scholt]

The Hunter is a gorgeous aircraft. It has a both an awesome 1950s aircraft aesthetic and a timelessness about it at the same time. Simple and elegant.

[TjpjMusic]

Hawker Hunters were still being used by the USAF and US Navy (flown and owned by civilian contractors) for threat simulation as of 2020, and likely still are bing used. There were several of them stationed at NAF Atsugi in Japan when I was stationed there.

[chrisaskin]

There should be no blame attached to the Hunter that crashed at the Shoreham Air Show, even though it was then a 'vintage' aircraft.

[mjc]

As a child my dad was a pilot in the RAF in the 60-80s and pretty much anyone I recall who flew them found the Hunter the best plane to fly of anything the RAF had of the jet-era...

[giancarlogarlaschi]

1968
Santiago de Chile .
I was sitting at home reading a book, everything was very quiet.
Suddenly a Huge bang !, I was 13 years old and had Never heard Anything like this !
It was one of the new Hawker Hunters FG9 aquired by the Air Force of Chile breaking the Sound Barrier to announce the Supersonic Era had begun !

[paulgolder]

One small error I noticed. The SABRINA panels did NOT collect the spent shells, they were ejected via the white tubes just behind the panels. The Sabrina panels did however, collect the links from the ammunition belt for reuse.

[gunner]

I remember seeing the Hunter in considerable numbers suddenly appearing from a motorway tunnel during a Swiss mobilisation exercise. Very impressive.

[billgiles]

I lived near Farnborough as a child. The Farnborough Air Show was a must see for us aircraft mad kids. I remember the sonic booms before they were banned and remember the great loop. I was so smitten by aircraft that I wanted to be a pilot but was let down by my eyesight. Nevertheless, I joined the RAF as an apprentice and subsequently worked on Hunters at Halton, Chivenor, West Raynham and Gibraltar. Point of correction: the tubes behind the Sabrinas were for the spent ammunition rounds (empty cases) the sabrinas were for the clips which held the belts of ammunition together. The light clips got sucked into the air intakes. Also the model shown did not have the gas deflectors on the gun muzzles, the smoke from 4 guns firing together could stall the engine so the smoke had to be deflected. I thought all Mk 6s had them.

[robertlassiter]

I was at Clark AB in the Philippines in the early 80’s and the Singapore Air Force was there with this aircraft. I was talking to one of the maintenance people and he told me that the plane was Britain’s revenge on them for seeking independence. I believe he was coming from a maintenance point of view. Anyway I got to see them flying. Also got to see a Vulcan bomber at Nellis AFB, Nevada in the late 70’s. One loud plane. Actually I was around the RAF several times during my time in the USAF. Great memories. Long live the RAF!

[fightingfalcon]

There's a mistake here: during the 70's and 80' era the Hunter was adapted by some Air Forces to carry and launch short-range air-to-air missiles. For instance, the Singaporean Air Force Hunters were adapted to carry 4 AIM-9L Sidewinder missiles, while in other countries were adapted to carry a couple of Rafael Shafrir missiles. That's the case with the Chilean Air Force Hawker Hunters that were hastily adapted and prepared to that due to the imminent threat of Argentine military attacks during the late 1970s (the so-called Operación Soberanía - Operation Sovereignty in English - to invade the Chilean territory in three fronts and seize three islands at the Beagle Channel: the group composed by the Lennox, Nueva and Picton islands) The Chilean Hunters were introduced in 1967 and were withdrawn in 1994, superseded by the Dassault Mirage 5M "Elkan".

[sjoormen]

My father was never in RAF well not suprising really, we lived in yugoslavia at that time, and though I never seen one of these in flesh, it's my favorite british fighter. It has beautiful lines.

[RJW]

Hunters just look so 'right', simple aesthetic, beautiful. In a similar way, I also love the Northrop F5.

[brucewilliams]

My dad, based at boscombe down 1952 to 1954, had two hunter mark/f2 under his charge with A squadron, experimental fighters and weapons development. These were wn888 and wn892, both built by Armstrong whitworth whitley, baginton Coventry. ( where he had served his apprenticeship harder leaving bablake school.
He is uncomfortably dead, but he loved his hunters. He said they were the best he ever worked on.
One of the fun things just before his death, was a visit to badminton air museum, where a very young man was working on a hunter, and trying to release a panel. I remember telling said youth to feel inside for a catch, or nob. The panel just fell away.
So here is to.my dad, Richard Eric Clifford( taffy, ), Williams.

[johnboyce]

I served with 208 Squadron R.A.F. Muharraq 1967-1969 as a airframe technician. Beautiful aircraft and so easy to service.

[Twirlyhead]

Gorgeous plane. Like an E-Type Jaguar with wings.

[Hoves]

Wonderful aircraft, but bloody difficult to maintain!! Worked on them in the 70's and 80's - Fuel tank changes and Engine changes. Still got a hole in my scalp from the spike in the undercarriage bay!!

[Macrobish]

When it comes to good looking aircraft the Hunter takes some beating in my eyes and the old saying “if it looks right it is right” comes to mind

[stuartpeacock]

Aesthetically the finest looking operational jet fighter built

[pinkdispatcher]

Very interesting to learn more about the Hunter's history. However, the swept wing does not reduce turbulence, it reduces wave drag which occurs at transonic speeds, where local flow becomes supersonic in some regions. For fully subsonic flight, with no local supersonic flow, straight wings will have lower drag, which is why even today all commercial turboprop aircraft have straight wings, and only some rarities, which go transonic, such as the Tu-95 Bear and the Airbus A400M, have props and swept wings.