The Company and suppliers funded Hawk demonstrator has been kindly donated to the Brooklands Museum by BAE Systems after it was replaced in the Company training school by a Hawk Mk 53.
Prior to that G-HAWK
had been used by BAe and BAE Systems for several airframe and systems
development and demonstration tasks.
In its prime it flew from Dunsfold
developing Hawk capabilities and spearheading the Hawk marketing effort
with demonstrations and world-wide sales tours. It played a key part in
the T-45 Goshawk campaign in the USA.
The airframe, consisting of the fuselage with fin and rudder, the
wing without flaps or ailerons, and the tailplane, was delivered to
Brooklands in late February. A cursory look reveals that other items
missing are the engine, pitot boom, some small fuselage panels, the
fillet below the rudder and a number of cockpit and seat items and
components. The long dummy 100 Series nose is fitted but with a conical
nose cone. The wing appears to be an early standard export type with
curved ‘streamwise’ tips. The paint finish is in dark blue BAE Systems
livery.
For many years Duncan Simpson campaigned for British
Aerospace to give the aircraft to Brooklands when it was retired. He
would be very happy to know that G-HAWK now has a permanent home. After
restoration it would be nice to see it displayed alongside the other
Kingston/Dunsfold demonstrator, Harrier Mk52, G-VTOL/ZA250.
Postscript. Some readers may wonder why these
demonstrator aircraft have both civil registrations (G-…) and UK
military serials (ZA…). The original civil registrations allowed the
aircraft to fly unarmed ferry and demonstration flights world-wide. The
military serials were allocated so that the aircraft could carry out
development and other flying associated with military programmes and
when carrying dummy or live armament.