| Tomtit | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Type | trainer |
| Manufacturer | Hawker Aircraft |
| Maiden flight | November 1928 |
| Number built | 35 |
The Hawker Tomtit is a British aircraft from the 1920s.
Contents |
Design and development
The Royal Air Force in 1927 required a replacement for their elementary trainers, the existing Avro 504s. They specified that the power plant should be an Armstrong Siddeley Mongoose engine, and the design should "have regards the elimination of the Woodworking Fitter trades". This required Sydney Camm, who was chief designer at Hawkers, to provide a design of an all-metal structured aircraft, the Tomtit. An initial batch of ten aircraft were ordered for the RAF. As a private venture, a civil version was built. This had a Cirrus engine fitted, although later one aircraft was converted to having a Wolseley A.R.7. engine. The Tomtit had a steel and duralumin tubular construction. The spars were made of tubular dumbbell sections. Wing slots of the Handley-Page type were fitted to the leading edges. The then-new blind-flying panel was fitted in the cockpit, so night flying instruction was possible. The Mongoose engine was a radial five cylinder type, while the Cirrus was a four cylinder in-line type.
Production and service
The prototype was first flown by George Bulman in November 1928. After the first batch of ten, the RAF ordered two more batches of six and eight aircraft respectively. Five civil versions were built, although eight of the RAF Tomtits were eventually placed on the Civil Register. Another two Tomtits were sold to Canada and four to New Zealand. It is probable that more Tomtits could have been sold, as it was very well received by their pilots, but Hawkers were heavily involved in the production of the Hawker Hart. Consequently they did not have the capacity to manufacture other aircraft. One Tomtit still exists. It was obtained and restored by Hawkers in 1949, and in 1960 it was handed over to the Shuttleworth Collection.
Variants
- Tomtit : Two-seat primary training aircraft.
- Tomtit Mk I : Two-seat primary trainer for the RAF.
Operators
- RCAF
- No. 7 Squadron RCAF
- No. 12 Squadron RCAF
- RAF
- No. 24 squadron RAF
- No. 3 Flying Training School
- Central Flying School
Specifications (Tomtit)
This aircraft article is missing some (or all) of its specifications. If you have a source, you can help Wikipedia by adding them.General characteristics
- Crew: one, pilot
- Length: 23 ft 8 in (7.21 m)
- Wingspan: 28 ft 6½ in (9.70 m)
- Height: 8 ft 4 in (2.54 m)
- Empty weight: 1,100 lb (499 kg)
- Loaded weight: 1,750 lb (793.8 kg)
- Powerplant: 1× Armstrong Siddeley Mongoose IIIC 5-cylinder radial engine, 150 hp (112 kW)
Performance
- Maximum speed: 108 knots (124 mph, 199.5 km/h)
- Service ceiling 19,500 ft (5,944 m)
References
- Francis K Mason, Hawker Aircraft since 1920, Putnam, ISBN 0-85177-839-9
- Personal experience at Hawkers 1943-52
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