At Warbirds Online we are real fans of 1930s biplane fighters, in particular the Hawker series of aircraft including the Audax, Hind, Fury, Demon, Hartbees, Osprey and Hart and others. This series of designs was very successful being built in Bomber and Fighter configurations as well as a carrier based fighter in the case of the Nimrod and variants were exported all over the world, including Australia. The last in service were probably the Hawker Hinds in Afghanistan which soldiered on into the late 1950s. In all slightly more than 3000 of various models of Hawker Biplanes were produced mostly powered by various models of the Rolls Royce Kestrel V12 engine.
It was believed that very few of the machines had survived, being confined to a few examples in the UK. However, over the last 20 or so years quite a number of Hawker Biplanes have surfaced in many countries and made their way into restoration shops in some numbers, including a large cache of Hawker Hinds in Afghanistan.
Quite a few aircraft are now flying in the UK, with more to come.
On my recent visit to the UK a must do activity was to see a few of these magnificent aircraft fly, as I had only ever seen a single Nimrod fly in the UK some years ago. This time I was very lucky as I saw the The Fighter Collection Nimrod and the Shuttleworth Hawker Hind fly in the space of two days.
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- Hawker Hind K5414
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- Hawker Hind K5414
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- Hawker Hind
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- Hawker Nimrod
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- Hawker Nimrod
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- Hawker Nimrod Mk 11
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- Hawker Demon
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- Hawker Hart
The Nimrod Mk 1 S1581, G-BWWK is operated by The Fighter Collection. It is the fourth production Mk. I, dating from late 1931 and from the first batch built. It is one of only two survivors, the other also airworthy and also based at Duxford is Nimrod II K3661, G-BURZ , operated by the Historic Aircraft Collection.
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- Hawker Hind
I was very impressed by the aerobatic capability of the Nimrod and the energetic display it put on at Flying legends and it made a great contrast to the two Gloster Gladiators also flown on the day. There is something quite magical to see these 1930’s biplanes in the air and the sound of the Nimrod’s Kestrel was also wonderful. It was a real highlight of my trip and one not to be missed.
The next day I was off to the Shuttleworth Collection, a short distance away and despite some inclement conditions I was able to see the airworthy ex-Afghan Hind, painted as K5414. Like the Nimrod this aircraft put on a dramatic display and was started rather uniquely by the Ford Model T based Hucks Starter. I hadn’t seen this before and it was another treat.
Old Warden, the home of the Shuttleworth Collection has to be one of the best settings to view old aircraft flying anywhere in the world with its grass runway and beautiful rural setting. It’s almost mystical and well worth a visit each and every time you venture to the UK.
I was very happy to see, hear and even smell these beautiful Hawker Biplanes. One day it would be great to see one or two flying here in Australia as we had the Hawker Demon in service. Upon my return to Australia I was delighted to see that Jack McDonalds long dormant RAAF Demon project was being restored to static condition at Caboolture Qld – but that is another story for another time….
And lets not forget the Hawker Demon A1-8 at the RAAF Point Cook Museum.
© John Parker 2014
I’ve always wondered what became of the McDonald Demon. Glad to hear its restoration albeit static, is finally moving forward.
Thanks James
Stay tuned for more news.
kind regards
John
Hi John
Don’t forget the RAAF Museum’s Demon. Hard to see up close but a great example.
Hi Justin
We added a reference to her into the article. We hadn’t forgotten about her and we saving up for the another article (just published) on a Demon restoration in Qld. Its a real Australiana restoration, so worthy of her mention.
kind regards
John
I have recently started work on the restoration of Jack MacDonald’s Hawker Deamon at Caboolture Qld Australia. Have cut out and fitted the ribs and are about to start on the stringers.
Hi Dave
That’s great to hear. I will catch up with you at the end of the month.
Kind regards
John
Hi there,
I wonder if there was anyone who might be able offer me an expert opinion on what plane is featured/illustrated in this online story:
https://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/documents/novel/6_jamie_transition.html
I am a teacher (currently working from home) and would love for my children to do some plane research after reading the story. I wondered about a Hawker Hind but not sure.
Thank you very very much for any advice!
Rachel
Hi Rachel
In the 10 years before WW2 there was a series of aircraft produced by Hawker Aircraft Company in the UK which started out as the Hawker Hart and was produced in about 20 different models including the Hawker Hind you mentioned. I have had a good look at the drawings in the item you sent me and it is almost certainly a Hawker Demon with the tail skid instead of the tail wheel used on some Demons. I live in Australia and this was the version of the Hawkers we used here – we had 64 of them. The Hawker Demon was a fighter variant of the Hart light bomber and was later used to train pilots in WW2.
The Wikipedia page is quite accurate and interesting and may help with your students research – many of the pilots in the Battle of Britain would have trained in this type of aircraft at Hendon UK and other training bases.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawker_Hart
also this page may help
https://www.baesystems.com/en/heritage/hawker-demon
There is a beautiful restored Hawker Demon that flies at the Shuttleworth Collection at Old Warden in the UK Old Warden Aerodrome, Hill Ln, Biggleswade SG18 9EP, United Kingdom
I hope this assists you and well done with your online schooling work !
Kind regards
John
Dear John,
That is absolutely tremendous. Thank you so much for your time, kindness and huge amount of knowledge! Wow!
I know the children will be so excited to do some research. They are 9 and 10 and just love History. They will get so much from this project and your kindness and expert knowledge will guide them (and me!) through!
Thank you so much again,
Rachel
Hi Rachel
Happy to have helped and we hope they enjoy doing their project.
Kind regards
John