Hawker P.1200/02/07 (F.16/F.17 analogues)

[TsrJoe]

some scans from the files ...

[TsrJoe]

and again ...

[kitnut617]

Joe, I've been looking at these in BSP too (in the Macon book 'Hawker' as well) and I was struck by the similarities, do you think some of the design criteria was turned over to the US ?  I can't imagine designs from two totally different companies getting it so close.

Robert

[TsrJoe]

being honest i think these are more a case of the UK. following the US. lead, the designs by Hawker being based upon what was known of the F.16/17 design studies?

theres a similar situation with earlier studies too, theres analogues for such types as the F.104 and F.107 to name but two

cheers, Joe

[Mossie]

It's a possibility that they're comparison studies.  When I worked in research, we'd do this sometimes.  If we didn't have direct access to a competitors product, we might mock something up from patents & such to give us a guideline.

[jcf]

It's a possibility that they're comparison studies.  When I worked in research, we'd do this sometimes.  If we didn't have direct access to a competitors product, we might mock something up from patents & such to give us a guideline.

Good possibility, Tommy Thomason's Secret Projects thread on the Grumman 110 design studies includes Grumman drawings of possible McDonnell and Republic competitors.

http://www.secretprojects.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,5545.15.html

Jon

[Mossie]

I've just checked the dates in BSP Fighters & the timescale of the projects seem to match that of the first flights of the YF-16 & YF-17 & the introduction of the F-16A.  It's definately not a case of design convergance, even before 1974 the general configuration would probably be known in the industry at least.

It does seem to fit the comparison study scenario well, you want to know just how well your product & knowledge compares to the competition so you find the data yourself.  The P.1202 seems to have been studied the most which seems to fit, the YF-16 had the most radical configuration.  The fact that the studies are not quite identical seems right too, you tend to go with materials & knowledge you already have.  Partly, that's simply because it's what you have at hand, second, it gives you a more direct comparison to your own product.