made at Baginton, Coventry, England
This jet aircraft, the Hawker Sea Hawk F.2, was made in 1954 by Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft Ltd at Baginton in Coventry in England. It was used by the Fleet Air Arm for carrier-based operations. The museum acquired it in 1972.
The single-seat carrier-based jet fighter has a Rolls-Royce Nene engine. It has a maximum speed of 599 mph at sea-level, and range of 580 miles. In the fuselage it has four fixed 20 mm guns, as well as two 100 gallon drop tanks. The aircraft is marked in standard Royal Navy colours. The fuselage nose is marked with '171' and the squadron badge of lion with dagger. On the fin and the rudder is an 'A' and the aircraft serial number 'WF 259'. This version of the Sea Hawk was a pure fighter, not capable of carrying bombs or rockets.
The Sea Hawk was used by the Royal Navy in the 1950s. It first entered Fleet Air Arm squadrons in 1953 and in the Suez Campaign of 1956, six Squadrons of Sea Hawks took part. The last Sea Hawks were retired from the Royal Navy in 1960, although the Indian Navy used them until 1983.
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