Hawker Nimrod

Naval Biplane Fighter

United Kingdom | 1933

"The Hawker Nimrod was born in the latter half of the 1920s and managed a career leading up to World War 2 in the late 1930s."

Authored By: Staff Writer | Last Edited: 06/26/2016 | Content ©www.MilitaryFactory.com | The following text is exclusive to this site; No A.I. was used in the generation of this content.

The 1920s ushered in an all-new era of flight as the industry saw a boom from the post-World War 1 years. However, before the all-metal planes of the 1930s took their place in aviation history, there stood a period of "mixed-construction" biplane aircraft which saw a combining of metal structures and fabric skinning. For the Hawker concern, a slew of such biplanes emerged in the decades leading up to World War 2 (1939-1945) with one of these becoming the Hawker "Hoopoe" of 1928.

The Hoopoe marked Hawker's first foray into the realm of a single-seat, single-engine navy fighter when it was realized as a private venture. However, the design was lacking in power and further work to increase output came too late as attention had moved on the Hawker "Nimrod" - whose design was credited to Sydney Camm - for possible sale to the Fleet Air Arm (FAA).

While in appearance the Nimrod followed the design lines of the classic Hawker Fury, it was more closely associated to the aforementioned Hoopoe. As expected, metal construction was meshed with fabric skinning to complete her and a single-bay biplane wing arrangement of unequal span was used. The pilot sat in an open-air cockpit which was set just under and aft of the upper wing element. The undercarriage sported a pair of wheels under the center mass of the aircraft and the frame was supported at the rear by way of a tail skid. The engine was mounted in the nose as usual and drove a two-bladed propeller. The empennage was made up of a traditional arrangement featuring a sole vertical fin and a pair of horizontal planes.

The Nimrod would be armed through 2 x 0.303 Vickers machine guns in fixed, forward-firing positions over the nose (just ahead of the pilot's position). The guns were designed to fire through the spinning propeller blades by way of interrupter gear. Beyond its fixed armament, the airframe was also cleared to carry up to 4 x 20lb conventional drop bombs.

Specification 16/30 covered the new Nimrod fighter and a first flight was had in 1930 with power stemming from a Rolls-Royce "Kestrel II MS" engine of 477 horsepower. A production-quality version was then officially flown on October 14th, 1931 for the first time to which an FAA order for 35 of the type followed. Because of the flexibility built into the Nimrod design, the land-based airplane could be relatively easily converted to floatplane form. This was proven through the second completed production-quality form which was fitted with a floatplane undercarriage (twin float arrangement).

Initial production models were designated "Nimrod I" and numbered 57 in all. Then came 28 "Nimrod II" models which moved on to the Rolls-Royce "Kestrel V" series engine of 608 horsepower to help increase performance. The wings were also swept-back some for better aerodynamic efficiency.

The Nimrod series went on to have a healthy service life with the FAA. Introduced in 1933, it forged a career that spanned until May of 1939 before being retired from Royal Navy service as newer and better fighter designs emerged. The design was evaluated in both Japan (as the "AXH") and Portugal while Denmark adopted a pair and produced another ten units locally. Danish operation of the Nimrod was given up for good in August of 1943.

For the FAA, the Nimrod went on to stock eleven total squadrons.

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Power & Performance
Those special qualities that separate one aircraft design from another. Performance specifications presented assume optimal operating conditions for the Hawker Nimrod Naval Biplane Fighter.

1 x Rolls-Royce Kestrel V engine developing 608 horsepower.
Propulsion

193 mph
310 kph | 167 kts
Max Speed

28,002 ft
8,535 m | 5 miles
Service Ceiling

304 miles
490 km | 265 nm
Operational Range

City-to-City Ranges
Operational range when compared to distances between major cities (in KM).

NYC

LON

PAR

BER

MOS

TOK

SYD

LAX

NYC

Structure
The nose-to-tail, wingtip-to-wingtip physical qualities of the Hawker Nimrod Naval Biplane Fighter.

1
(MANNED)
Crew

26.5 ft
8.09 m
O/A Length

33.6 ft
(10.23 m)
O/A Width

9.8 ft
(3.00 m)
O/A Height

3,120 lb
(1,415 kg)
Empty Weight

4,057 lb
(1,840 kg)
MTOW

Design Balance
The three qualities reflected below are altitude, speed, and range. The more full the box, the more balanced the design.

RANGE

ALT

SPEED

Armament
Available supported armament and special-mission equipment featured in the design of the Hawker Nimrod Naval Biplane Fighter .

STANDARD:
2 x .303 Vickers machine guns in fixed, forward firing positions synchronized to fire through the spinning propeller blades.

OPTIONAL:
4 x 20 lb conventional drop bombs carried underwing.

Variants
Notable series variants as part of the Hawker Nimrod family line.

Nimrod - Base series name

Nimrod Mk I - Initial production model; Rolls-Royce Kestrel IIMS engine of 477 horsepower; 57 examples built.

Nimrod Mk II - Modified Mk I with swept wings; fitted with Kestrel IIS or VFP engines of up to 608 horsepower; 30 examples built.

Nimrod (Danish) - Danish export model with Rolls-Royce Kestrel IIIS engine; 2 examples.

Nimrodderne - Royal Danish Navy variant; 10 examples

AXH1 - One-off evaluation model for Imperial Japan

Operators
Global customers who have evaluated and/or operated the Hawker Nimrod. Nations are displayed by flag, each linked to their respective national aircraft listing.

Total Production: 92 Units
Contractor(s): Hawker Aircraft - UK

[ Denmark; Imperial Japan (evaluation); Portugal (evaluation); United Kingdom ]

Relative Max Speed

Hi: 200mph

Lo: 100mph

Aircraft Max Listed Speed (193mph).

Graph Average of 150 MPH.

Era Crossover

Showcasing Aircraft Era Crossover (if any)

Max Alt Visualization

Production Comparison

92

36183

44000

Entry compared against Ilyushin IL-2 (military) and Cessna 172 (civilian) total production.

MACH Regime (Sonic)

Sub

Trans

Super

Hyper

HiHyper

ReEntry

♦

Aviation Timeline

EarlyYrs

WWI

Interwar

WWII

ColdWar

Postwar

Modern

Future

♦

1 / 1

Image from the Public Domain.

Mission Roles
Some designs are single-minded in their approach while others offer a more versatile solution to airborne requirements.

AIR-TO-AIR COMBAT

MARITIME / NAVY

Recognition
Some designs stand the test of time while others are doomed to never advance beyond the drawing board; let history be their judge.

Military lapel ribbon for the Golden Age of Flight

Going Further...
The Hawker Nimrod Naval Biplane Fighter appears in the following collections:

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