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| When, in 1935, Specification F.9/35 was issued for a
two-seat interceptor fighter to replace the Demon, both
Hawker and Boulton Paul tendered proposals for aircraft
fitted with the Boulton Paul turret mounting four
0.303-in (7,7-mm) machine guns. Hawker's submission
was based on redesign of the Henley light bomber, prototype
construction of which had just commenced. Like
the Henley, it utilised standard Hurricane outer wing
panels. Dubbed Hotspur, the prototype of the two-seat
fighter was not flown until 14 June 1938, and then with
only a wooden mock-up of the turret and with ballast equivalent to the weight of armament. Powered by a
1,030 hp Rolls-Royce Merlin II, the Hotspur proved
faster than the competitive Boulton Paul Defiant, but as
Hawker and its parent Group were fully committed to
production of the Hurricane, no effort was made to
bring the prototype Hotspur up to representative Service
standard and development was discontinued, the
aircraft subsequently being utilised for flap and dive
brake development. The following data relate to the aircraft
as flown with mock-up turret.
 | A three-view drawing (1613 x 1147) |
| WEIGHTS |
| Take-off weight | 3470 kg | 7650 lb |
| Empty weight | 2631 kg | 5800 lb |
| DIMENSIONS |
| Wingspan | 14.59 m | 48 ft 10 in |
| Length | 11.01 m | 36 ft 1 in |
| Height | 4.37 m | 14 ft 4 in |
| Wing area | 31.77 m2 | 341.97 sq ft |
| PERFORMANCE |
| Max. speed | 509 km/h | 316 mph |
| Andres Erdos, e-mail, 16.08.2012 17:51 In the same fashion as the Henley, the Hotspur utilised standard Hurricane outer wing panels. One prototype aircraft, K8309, was built in 1937, fitted with armament of four 0.303 in (7.7 mm) Brownings in a B-P dorsal turret plus one .303 in (7.7 mm) Vickers gun mounted in the front fuselage. The completion of the prototype was delayed until 1938, by which time the rival Boulton Paul Defiant had already flown. The Hotspur first flew on 14 June 1938 with only a wooden mock-up of the turret and with ballast equivalent to the weight of armament.
As Hawker was committed to the production of Henleys and Hurricanes the project was abandoned. The mock-up turret was removed and a cockpit fairing installed. Planned production by Avro to Specification 17 /36 was abandoned and the prototype, with turret removed, served at the RAE Farnborough on miscellaneous test programmes of flap and dive brake configurations until 1942. reply | | Burunduk, 01.02.2011 20:21 C Burke, agree. Span = 12,34m, length = 10,02m. reply | | C Burke, e-mail, 07.08.2010 18:58 Your specs for the Hotspur are incorrect, and probably direct from the Henley. The Hotspur had a 40-foot wingspan and 32 length--a considerably smaller aircraft rivaling the Defiant.
Cheers! reply |
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