A step-by-step development from the Hawker Seahawk

Shortly after the war, Hawker produced for the Royal Navy the Hawker Seahawk jet fighter fitted with straight wings and a Rolls Royce Nene centrifugal jet engine. As first step towards the Hunter, the Seahawk was fitted with 35° swept wings as the Hawker P.1052. However it still had the same tail as the Seahawk. It flew for the first time in November 1948. Later, the second P.1052 was fitted with a new rear fuselage with a swept tail as the P.1083. It still had a Rolls Royce Nene which resulted in a relatively broad fuselage. Redesigned with the new axial flow Rolls Royce Avon jet engine and with a much sleeker fuselage, this would finally result in the P.1067, the Hunter prototype. Both P.1052 and P.1083 were unable to exceed the speed of sound in a dive. The Hunter could do this without problem! So, the Hunter was not a radical new design, but the result of a step-by-step further development of the first Hawker jet fighter, the Seahawk.

Early test flying and development

For replacement of the Gloster Meteor both Vickers Armstrong (Supermarine) and Hawker developed a fast-climbing jet fighter with trans-sonic capability that resulted finally in the Swift and the Hunter. The Royal Air Force clearly betted on two horses at that time and both types finally entered production.

The Hawker P.1067 design, following Specification F.3/48 (later replaced by Spec. F.43/46) was submitted to the Air Ministry to meet this specification. This was awarded on 14 March 1951 by a contract for the construction of three prototypes. These three aircraft received the R.A.F. serial numbers WB188, WB195 and WB202. As already discussed the P.1067 had its pedigree in two steps from the Seahawk.