Hawker's Forgotten Suez Warrior Was An Early Cold War Great
Published 2024-05-24
Even to someone like me who was raised in the UK, the Sea Hawk was an obscure fighter. Hopefully this video goes some way to raising its profile.
Sources:
"Warpaint #29: Hawker Sea Hawk" by Tony Buttler contains some great photos and colour plates alongside a decent description of the type. In my view, this is the book to get if you're after something exclusively on the type
"Hawker Aircraft Since 1920" by Francis Mason has a good section on the Sea Hawk and does a good job at putting it into context of Hawker in the post-war era
"Wings Over Suez" by Brian Cull, David Nicolle, and Shlomo Aloni is the book (perhaps the only book?) to get if you're interested in the Suez air war
If you're a collector of such things then "Profile #79: Hawker Sea Hawk" is a little thin but is still a nice quick overview of the type's genesis and FAA service
German service is covered in Siegfried Wache's "Sea Hawk Mk.100/101". It's in German and was a bit slow going for me!
A slightly obscure book that I picked up years ago is "Hawker Sea Hawk" by Mark 1 Publications, printed in the Czech Republic. The text in this one is useful for a modeller in that it goes through structural features. The pictures are also excellent. This all comes at the cost of quite rudimentary historical coverage
Aircraft accidents on Malta are documented here: www.aviationinmalta.com/MilitaryAviation/Accidents…
All Comments (21)
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Hawker is very beloved in india. In 1961 Goa and 1971 Bangladesh war Sea Hawks from Indian carrier INS Vikrant performed spectacularly
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The fact the Sea Hawk flew from the former HMS Venerable shows how the "Light Fleet Carrier" designed to last for only a few years/till wars end was so well made it was capable of flying jet aircraft into the late 1960's.
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My dad was killed in a training accident in 2004 in a crash in a Canberra PR.9. I appreciate you highlighting how dangerous training is, as this is often overlooked.
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I am a War Thunder player and I love the Sea Hawk, especially the Mk.100 with two AIM-9Bs. It turns hard, holds it's energy very well, regains it's energy well, it has large flaps and a large air break which are also a big up side. All of it's weapons hit hard, the four Hispanos, the bombs, the RP-3s, and the 9Bs on the Mk.100. It can punch far above it's weight.
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I had the pleasure of working for Armstrong Whitworth in the early 1960s when Seahawks were being stripped down and modified. I always thought it was a most beautiful aircraft. Being a carrier based plane all the parts we made were very substantial in the fact the guages of metal were thicker than land based planes. Always nice to work on.
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You say you are an “amateur” historian. Huh? You’re the BEST historian of your subject I have ever had the pleasure to listen to. Thank You Professor Napfatg !!!
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When I saw the Sea Hawk at the Fleet Air Arm Museum I was shocked at how small it was! But a lovely, neat design.
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Sweet the Drachinifel of early jets has another banger of a video. Your content is top tier and you deserve way more subscribers. Since you are doing videos on Soviet missiles and the such. A video on all the variants of the sidewinder would be cool. I only learn a month ago that there was a sidewinder that there was a radar guided one and a laser guided sidewinder.
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Thanks! I never knew the Seahawk was so capable & useful. It is a beautiful Friday evening with the Sea Hawk .
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The daddy of the beautiful Hunter.
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about 60 years ago I built the Airfix kit and it remains to my eye one of the better looking aircraft to take to the skies.
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I enjoyed this one a lot. I grew up in Renfrew Scotland where we had the old airport literally in our back yard. The sound of Connies, Argonauts, Brittanias and Viscounts etc filled my young ears at night when I would hear them stacking in circuits and then on approach. A few miles away there was Abbotsinch RNAS. Which is now Glasgow Airport. They flew Sea Hawks, Gannets, Venoms and a few Wyverns and Sea Vixens too. I can only just remember it now. But the sound of those big propliners I shall never forget, nor the oarnge light of the sweeping radar that would light my bedroom on/off all night! Great show. You are a gifted orator and historian my man.
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I've always liked the Hawker Sea Hawk and think it has nice clean lines and an elegant shape. Thank you for this fun and informative episode on this British classic! 👏
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'Elegant'; a great word for this beautiful fighter, especially in the classic RN livery--imagine F-35s so adorned... When I saw the image of the engine with its bifurcated exhaust, I immediately thought, 'Harrier'!
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Very pretty little jet; super-clean design. Many thanks for another top tier video on this deeply fascinating period.
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Thanks for. The acknowledgement of the pilots lost during "peace time" that was the Cold War. All are heroes and deserve to be remembered by more than just the families. The quiet man of the cold war getting on with the job whilst others came and went. A great aircraft if unspectacular but it's record speaks volumes. Thanks for a superb video.
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What a pretty aeroplane. It just looks right😍 Must build my Trumpeter 1/48 FGA.6. Cracking video 👍
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One of my favourites.....no crappy video game required ✌️
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Excellent video on the Sea Hawk especially side by side with its contemporaries! Looks like the U.S.S. Antietam CV-36 would make a great video on angled carriers. And to tackle the pronunciation a la “Kearsarge” 😅.
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I was reading about the seahawk in Dutch naval service on Wikipedia and it did mention it was fitted to take the saiwan the missile but I didn't believe it because Wikipedia can be quite unreliable when it comes to accurate and legitimate information.. Keep up the good work...👍
