Hawker P.1056

Dedicated Night-Fighter Aircraft Proposal [ 1947 ]

The Hawker P.1056 was drawn up to a post-World War 2 night-fighter specification - it was not furthered.

Authored By: Staff Writer | Last Edited: 03/12/2019 | Content ©www.MilitaryFactory.com | The following text is exclusive to this site.

Image copyright www.MilitaryFactory.com; No Reproduction Permitted.

GO TO SPECIFICATIONS [+]

Advertisements

Towards the close of World War 2 in 1945, the turbojet engine was already establishing itself as the future of aerial warfare. This was the fruit of all of the major powers of the conflict investing, to varying degrees, in the development of an effective and reliable turbojet engine unit for which power a new-generation of combat warplane for wars still to come. One of the nations at the forefront of jet technology during the period was Britain and one of their notable achievements in the post-war world was the Rolls-Royce AJ.65 ("Axial Jet") engine - better remembered as the "Avon".

The AJ.65 became the world's first axial-flow turbojet, seeing production reach in excess of 11,000 units. This powerplant went on to drive a bevy of airplanes for the West during the Cold War-era: the English Electric Lightning, Hawker Hunter, and Saab Draken were just some of the classic designs. So when a new Specification (F.44/46) by the British Air Ministry came up in January of 1947 calling for a dedicated, jet-powered, radar-equipped night-fighter, the AJ.65 became the centerpiece of a design by Hawker Aircraft known as the "P.1056".

The P.1056's design lines were no doubt influenced by the competing, in-service Gloster Meteor twin-jet fighter-bomber, Britain's first operational jet fighter and the only jet-powered platform available to the Allies at the close of World War 2 (1939-1945). The fuselage was well-contoured for aerodynamic efficiency, fitting a rounded, short nosecone at front and tapering elegantly to the rear. The nose was hollowed out to house an Airborne Interception (AI) radar unit and, aft of this, was the cockpit placement intended to seat two crewmembers in tandem (under a lightly-framed, "teardrop-style" canopy). The straight-edged mainplanes, featuring only slight tapering at the leading and trailing edges, would be rounded at the tips and set low against the fuselage sides just ahead of midships. As in the Meteor, the P.1056 was to carry its twin-turbojet configuration (2 x Rolls-Royce AJ.65 of 6,500lb thrust each) in underwing nacelles, these housings formed as part of the mainplane members. The tail unit consisted of a single, rounded vertical tailfin with low-set horizontal planes. For ground-running, a retractable tricycle undercarriage would be used.

Proposed armament was strictly cannon-oriented: 4 x 30mm ADEN autocannons would be buried under the cockpit floor in the nose section of the fuselage. Set low and under the crewmen, muzzle flash would have had a minimal impact during night-time engagements.

The aircraft was projected by company engineers to have a maximum speed of 680 miles-per-hour and a rate-of-climb nearing 11,000 feet-per-minute. These proved two excellent values for a night-fighter to possess: straight-line speed in running down night-time marauders and the ability to get to altitude in short order.

However, despite the promising aspects of this "paper creation", all work on the project was ended in May of 1947. An offshoot design, though also short-lived, became "P.1057". This version followed some of the design traits of the P.1056 but incorporated a large-area, swept-back wing mainplane with wingroot-mounted turbojet installations. This design, too, went nowhere as the search for a viable Royal Air Force night-fighter wore on.©MilitaryFactory.com

Note: The above text is EXCLUSIVE to the site www.MilitaryFactory.com. It is the product of many hours of research and work made possible with the help of contributors, veterans, insiders, and topic specialists. If you happen upon this text anywhere else on the internet or in print, please let us know at MilitaryFactory AT gmail DOT com so that we may take appropriate action against the offender / offending site and continue to protect this original work.

Specifications

Service Year

1947

Origin

United Kingdom

Status

CANCELLED
Development Ended.

Crew

2

Production

0
UNITS

Hawker Aircraft - UK

(View other Aviaton-Related Manufacturers)

United Kingdom (abandoned)

(OPERATORS list includes past, present, and future operators when applicable)

✓ Air-to-Air Combat, Fighter
General ability to actively engage other aircraft of similar form and function, typically through guns, missiles, and/or aerial rockets.

✓ X-Plane (Developmental, Prototype, Technology Demonstrator)
Aircraft developed for the role of prototyping, technology demonstration, or research / data collection.

Length

50.3 ft
(15.32 m)

Width/Span

50.0 ft
(15.24 m)

Empty Wgt

17,637 lb
(8,000 kg)

MTOW

22,101 lb
(10,025 kg)

Wgt Diff

+4,464 lb
(+2,025 kg)

(Showcased structural values pertain to the base Hawker P.1056 production variant)

Installed: 2 x Rolls-Royce AJ.65 ("Axial Jet", to become the RR "Avon" series) turbojet engines developing 6,500lb of thrust each.

Max Speed

680 mph
(1,095 kph | 591 kts)

Ceiling

45,932 ft
(14,000 m | 9 mi)

Rate-of-Climb

11,000 ft/min
(3,353 m/min)

♦ MACH Regime (Sonic)

Sub

Trans

Super

Hyper

HiHyper

ReEntry

♦

(Showcased performance specifications pertain to the base Hawker P.1056 production variant. Performance specifications showcased above are subject to environmental factors as well as aircraft configuration. Estimates are made when Real Data not available. Compare this aircraft entry against any other in our database or View aircraft by powerplant type)

PROPOSED:
4 x 30mm ADEN autocannons under nose.

Supported Types

Graphical image of an aircraft automatic cannon

(Not all ordnance types may be represented in the showcase above)

Hardpoint Mountings: 0

P.1056 - Base Project Designation.

Military lapel ribbon for Operation Allied Force

Military lapel ribbon for the Arab-Israeli War

Military lapel ribbon for the Battle of Britain

Military lapel ribbon for the Battle of Midway

Military lapel ribbon for the Berlin Airlift

Military lapel ribbon for the Cuban Missile Crisis

Military lapel ribbon for pioneering aircraft

Military lapel ribbon for the Falklands War

Military lapel ribbon for the French-Indochina War

Military lapel ribbon for the Golden Age of Flight

Military lapel ribbon for the 1991 Gulf War

Military lapel ribbon for the Indo-Pak Wars

Military lapel ribbon for the Iran-Iraq War

Military lapel ribbon for the Korean War

Military lapel ribbon for the 1982 Lebanon War

Military lapel ribbon for the Malayan Emergency

Military lapel ribbon representing modern aircraft

Military lapel ribbon for the attack on Pearl Harbor

Military lapel ribbon for the Six Day War

Military lapel ribbon for the Soviet-Afghan War

Military lapel ribbon for the Spanish Civil War

Military lapel ribbon for the Suez Crisis

Military lapel ribbon for the Ukranian-Russian War

Military lapel ribbon for the Vietnam War

Military lapel ribbon for Warsaw Pact of the Cold War-era

Military lapel ribbon for the WASP (WW2)

Military lapel ribbon for the World War 1

Military lapel ribbon for the World War 2

Military lapel ribbon for the Yom Kippur War

Military lapel ribbon for experimental x-plane aircraft

Ribbon graphics not necessarily indicative of actual historical campaign ribbons. Ribbons are clickable to their respective aerial campaigns / operations / aviation periods.

Images Gallery

1 / 1

Image copyright www.MilitaryFactory.com; No Reproduction Permitted.