Hawker P.1091 Huntress

[Glenn Gilbertson]

Hawker P.1091 "Huntress"

I have always liked the look of the Hawker P.1091 project – a delta Hunter derivative, and one day will make a model, but not in time for this on-week build! I hope the story and drawings will entertain.

In the late 1940s there was great interest in the delta wing shape for high-speed flight, offering a greater internal volume than swept wings. In parallel with the P.1067 sweptwing fighter (later named Hunter) Hawkers offered the P.1091 delta winged fighter to be powered by an afterburning Sapphire turbojet.
The RAF were not happy with afterburners at the time, so Hawkers refined the P.1091 to have the same RR Avon engine as the Hunter F.1. Two prototypes were ordered initially to compare the handling wit that of the Hunter and help with the development of the Avro Vulcan, the low-speed Avro 707s having proved of limited ability.
The first protype WB203 made its maiden flight on 20th August 1951, a month after the P.1067, the second, WB204 following in October. Both were finished in Hawker's favourite pale green – opinion is divided about whether this was RAF "Sky" or a cheap job-lot of an unpopular shade from a local supplier! Flights rapidly revealed unpleasant buffeting at high speeds, so both aircraft were grounded to be fitted with revised, cranked leading edges. The aircraft then became delightful to fly, and the redesign was carried over to the Avro Vulcan.
Hawker proposed a two-seat trainer version to enable Vulcan squadrons to train pilots more economically than using the bomber; this appealed to the Treasury and a batch of twenty-four were ordered, to be named "Hawker Huntress T.2" (allowing F.1 for a possible single-seater fighter version). These entered service initially with 230 OCU with each operational squadron receiving one or two.
The prototypes continued to fly experimentally for many years; great favourites of the pilots they were nicknamed "Diana" and "Artemis" (a classical education was not wasted).
WB204 "Artemis" was fitted with an auxiliary Napier Double Scorpion rocket engine, and on May 18th 1956, achieved a world record altitude of 68,882ft.  A reconnaissance version was offered with a three-camera nose (as later fitted to the Hunter Hunter FR.10)), but the RAF decided to stick with the Canberra.
The Huntress proved, like the Vulcan, to be hard to detect by radar. Rumours that one or two T.2s were fitted with camera noses and allowed to "accidentally stray" over the Middle East were never confirmed or denied.
The final Huntresses saw out their days with the Empire Test Pilots School, ideal to compare characteristics with their Hunters.
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[NARSES2]

That's a lovely looking aeroplane 

[PR19_Kit]

Didn't one of us build one a while back? I'm sure I've seen one on the SIG stand at sometime.

[Glenn Gilbertson]

Somebody combined a Hunter fuselage with Skyray wings and Skyhawk fin, if I remember correctly - it was a beautiful model. and equally plausible.

[Glenn Gilbertson]

Too late for the one-week completion deadline, but I hope that these cause amusement (or inspiration).
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