Hawker Audax
Hawker Audax | |
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Hawker Audax prototype K1438 around 1931 |
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Type: | Close air support |
Design country: | |
Manufacturer: | |
First flight: |
Summer 1931 |
Number of pieces: |
294 for Hawker |
The Audax was an army cooperation aircraft of the British Air Force ( Royal Air Force ) of the 1930s. The machine was an open two-seater, designed as a metal construction with fabric covering.
history
Developed according to specification 7/31 from Hawker Hart and thus a "classic" double-decker with rigid landing gear, the prototype (K1438) flew for the first time in 1931, and the first series machine was delivered on December 29 of the same year. The short development time can be explained by the extensive identity of the Audax with the Hart, from which it differed only through some special equipment. 650 copies were built by 1935. In February 1932, the first Audax squadron became operational.
The model was supplemented by the Hawker Hardy , a more versatile and slightly more motorized machine, but otherwise largely the same machine.
The Audax was replaced by the Westland Lysander at the beginning of the Second World War and then mainly served as a trainer and tow plane. In Africa and in Iraq in 1941, Audax were also used in combat operations.
production
The Hawker Audax was built in series by four companies (Hawker, Kingston; Gloster , Hucclecote; Avro , Chaddarton; Bristol , Filton).
Approval of the Hawker Audax by the RAF:
Manufacturer | version | 1931 | 1932 | 1933 | 1934 | 1935 | 1936 | 1937 | total |
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Hawker | Mk.I | 9 | 31 | 113 | 21st | 2 | 176 | ||
Gloster | 26th | 26th | |||||||
Avro | 219 | 18th | 237 | ||||||
Bristol | 141 | 141 | |||||||
Gloster | India | 25th | 25th | ||||||
Avro | 25th | 25th | 50 | ||||||
total | 9 | 31 | 113 | 47 | 27 | 385 | 43 | 655 |
The Audax was delivered to the Iraqi Air Force in 34 copies from 1935. There she flew under the name "Nisr". Persia received a total of 56 Audax in 1934 and 1935. Production for Egypt amounted to 24 aircraft. Six of them were delivered in 1937 and 18 in 1938. Hawker built four Audax with the Rolls-Royce Kestrel VFP (608 hp) for South Africa. There the aircraft was built under the name "Hartbees" in 65 copies under license from "Aircraft and Artillery Depot" in Roberts Heights. Another 10 aircraft were built under license by the Iranian Aircraft Factory in Tehran from 1939 onwards. The production amounted to 848 aircraft.
Technical specifications
Parameter | Data |
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crew | 2 |
drive | an in-line engine Rolls-Royce Kestrel IB with 530 PS (390 kW) or a derated X with 520 PS (382 kW) |
length | 9.02 m |
span | 11.35 m |
height | 3.18 m |
Wing area | 32.33 m² |
Empty mass | 1335 kg |
Takeoff mass | 1985 kg |
Top speed | 274 km / h at 725 m altitude 253 km / h at 4000 m altitude |
Rise time | 2.5 min at 725 m altitude, 8.6 min at 3000 m altitude |
Flight duration | 3:35 h |
Summit height | 6400 m |
Armament | a 7.7-mm-MG Vickers rigid at the front and a 7.7-mm-MG Lewis moveable at the rear |
Literature and Sources
- Owen Thetford: Aircraft of the Royal Air Force since 1918. 8th revised edition. Putnam / Conway, London 1988, ISBN 0-85177-810-0 , pp. 347-348 and 350-351.
- Kenneth G. Munson: Aircraft of World War II. Ian Allan, London 1962 p. 195.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Halley, James J .: The K File. The Royal Air Force of the 1930s , Tunbridge Wells, 1995, pp. 94 ff.
- ↑ Wixey, Ken: Hart of the Matter , in: Air Enthusiast 96, pp. 24-33; AE 97, pp. 54-65; AE 98, pp. 57-65
- ↑ Andersson, Lennart: Iranian Eagles , in: http://www.artiklar.z-bok.se/english.html