Hawker Duiker

The Hawker Duiker was an unusual, but unsuccessful aircraft. It was the first design under a new chief designer, Capt Thomson, in 1922. Much of the equipment & parts were propriety & made by another aircraft company, Vickers, which also shared the airfield at Brooklands. The Duiker was a parasol wing monoplane in a period where the biplane held sway. The intended purpose of the aircraft was for army reconnaissance.

The Duiker had an all wood structure. The wings has a slight sweep-back, which gave rise to instability at all speeds, and even caused the separation of the wing from the rear struts. The fin was rather small and was typical of Sopwith design in shape. An Armstrong-Sidderley Jaguar engine was initially used, but this was later changed for a Bristol Jupiter IV. The first flight took place in July 1923. Only one aircraft was built.

• Span - 48' 5" [14.76 m]
• Length - 31' 5" [9.58 m]
• Height - 10' 7" [3.23 m]
• Empty Wt - 3950 lb [1792 kg]
• Design Max Wt - 4940 lb [2241 kg]
• Max Wt limited by unsafe flight - 4700 lb [2132 kg]
• Max Speed - 125 mph [201.2 km/h]
• Ceiling - 14500' [4420 m]
• Range - 340 miles [547.1 km]

"Hawker Aircraft since 1920" by Francis K Mason - pub Putnam