aircraft/loadouts Hawker Sea Hawk FGA Mk. 4 or FGA Mk. 6

[Q_Garbage_Q@psn 2,092]

History
The history of the Sea Hawk goes back all the way to late 1944, when Hawker finished designing their last propeller aircraft (Sea Fury) and moved on to designing jets. The Sea Hawk would be Hawker's first jet. The design of prototype P.1035 was finished as early as November 1944. The RAF wasn't interested in a new land-based fighter, so Hawker turned to the Fleet Air Arm with a navalised version of the P.1040 prototype. While they weren't looking for a new naval fighter either, the P.1040 showed several promising features that the Supermarine Attacker, the FAA's current project, didn't offer. Despite this, in 1946 the FAA ordered that several prototypes be built, which first flew in september 1947. This prototype would not only become the Sea Hawk itself, but would also lead to the development of the Hawker Hunter, acting as a test bed for several of its features.
Production started in 1949 and was ramped up as soon as the Korean War started, where Sea Hawks saw limited use. Where Sea Hawks were used most intensively was the Suez Crisis, which saw them fulfill the main ground attack role against Egypt. The Sea Hawk was an important aircraft in British history, being the first jet aircraft of the Hawker company, the basis of the Hunter we all know and love and on top of that, an export success. Of the nations we have in game, Germany received a number of export versions of the Sea Hawk, making it a viable aircraft for two nations in game. In total, 523 Sea Hawks of every variation were built. The Sea Hawk was not only of importance to Great Britain, but also to Germany, it being their first naval aircraft the Marineflieger operated after WW2. And the only German naval aircraft that fits the current era of WT.


An FGA Mk. 6 in folded position
 

Spoiler

The prototype in flight, 1947-48

The Sea Hawk FGA Mk. 4
This version of the Sea Hawk was a modification which improved its ground attack capabilities with 4 hardpoint. It first flew in 1954.
Here are the specifications:
Engine: Rolls Royce Nene Mk.101
Power: 5,000lb thrust
Wing span: 39ft 0in
Length: 39ft 10.5in
Height: 8ft 9in
Empty Weight: 9,190lb
Maximum Overload Weight: 15,225lb
Max Speed at Sea Level: 591mph clean, 581 with drop tanks
Max Speed at 36,000ft: Mach 0.84 clean, Mach 0.79 with two drop tanks
Service Ceiling: 43,000ft (clean), 41,000ft (with tanks)
Endurance (clean): 2hrs 15mins; 3hrs 16mins with tanks
Armament: Four nose-mounted 20mm cannon Mk. V, 200 rounds per gun (800 rnds)
Bomb-load: Two 500lb bombs and/or RP3 rockets.

Spoiler

This is a photo of the FGA Mk. 4 running a 16 RP3 and 2 500lb bomb loadout

Spoiler

The cockpit

 

The Sea Hawk FGA Mk. 6
This version is the same as the FGA Mk. 4, except it has  a more powerful Rolls-Royce Nene Mk. 103 engine. It's 4 percent more powerful and according to the flight manual amounts to a 12% climb rate increase, a 1% speed increase, a 1% combat radius increase and a 3% endurance increase.

Spoiler

Preserved FGA Mk. 6 in flight

Specifications from wikipedia:

• Length: 39 ft 8 in (12.09 m)
• Wingspan: 39 ft 0 in (11.89 m)
• Height: 8 ft 8 in (2.64 m)
• Wing area: 278 ft² (25.83 m²)
• Empty weight: 9,278 lb (4,208 kg)
• Loaded weight: 13,220 lb (5,996 kg)
• Max. takeoff weight: 16,150 lb (7,325 kg)
• Powerplant: 1 × Rolls-Royce Nene 103 turbojet, 5,200 lbf (23.1 kN)
• Maximum speed: 600 mph (965 km/h)
• Range: 480 mi (770 km)
• Service ceiling: 44,500 ft (13,564 m)
• Rate of climb: 5,700 ft/min (29.0 m/s)
• Wing loading: 48 lb/ft² (232 kg/m²)
• Thrust/weight: 0.38

 

More detailed flight performance charts of both versions can be found in the flight manual I will link to below. The most important sections of it are Part VI and VII, showing off the flight performance and the cockpit in detail. Noteworthy is that it carries two types of rockets, referred to at the 25lb head and 60lb head. The 25lb is the RP3 as we have it in game (the SAP version, not AP) and the 60lb head is apparently a heavier version we don't have yet. This can be confusing because the RP3 we have in game is often referred to as the 60lb SAP rocket (the head alone weighs 25lb) while in the manual it refers to the head weight only. You can see it in the image below, where RP3 we have in game is number 69 and the other variant number 138
 

Spoiler

The heaviest loadout of both versions is 20x RP3 and 2x 500lb bombs, as seen below and mentioned in the manual
 

Spoiler

Further notes

Battle rating
Glancing at the statistics of this aircraft, I'd say that the performance is comparable or perhaps slightly better than the Vampire. I'd say a BR of 7.3 would be fitting for either one, though the Mk. 6 might be pushing into 7.7 territory.

The Sea Hawk Mk. 100 for Germany
As mentioned before, Germany received a number of Sea Hawks for their navy. The Mk. 100 is an exact copy of the FGA Mk. 6, bar some minor modifications to the tail area. It might be a good addition to the German tech tree, especially since they lack many post-war fighters as well as naval aircraft at the moment. It would bring something new and unusual into the German tree, perhaps extra relevant in the face of Naval forces seemingly coming rather soon. As mentioned before, this is the only German naval aircraft that fits within the era of War Thunder.

German Sea Hawks

 

Spoiler

A Sea Hawk Mk. 100 on display with a set of 20 rockets that are unknown to me.

 

Spoiler

A formation of four Mk. 100s

 

Spoiler

More Mk. 100s

Spoiler

In colour

The manual
Important to note about the source for flight characteristics is that the graphs you see in part VI are for the FGA Mk. 4 with Nene Mk. 101 engine. The manual states that to get the results for the Mk. 103 Nene equipped FGA Mk. 6, one should increase the results by the aforementioned 12% for climb rate, 1% for combat speed, 1% for combat radius and 3% for combat endurance. The graphs therefore represent both the Mk. 4 and Mk. 6.

 

Sources
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawker_Sea_Hawk
http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/weapons_hawker_sea_hawk_3.html
The manual:   http://www.gatwick-aviation-museum.co.uk/seahawk/SeaHawk.pdf

 

Edited February 6, 2018 by Radom

[Radom 4,245]

Open for discussion. 

[dotEXCEL 5,969]

+1

[swpixy 1,220]

+1

 

[Capt_Palmtree 377]

Yes please, this would allow the Vampires to be moved to the de Havilland branch and these could go before the Hunter at the end on the Hawker branch.

+1.

[Q_Garbage_Q@psn 2,092]

3 hours ago, Capt_Palmtree said:

Yes please, this would allow the Vampires to be moved to the de Havilland branch and these could go before the Hunter at the end on the Hawker branch.

+1.

Possible. They could also be used to flesh out the naval line more, though. The Attacker and Sea Venom are rather disappointing, but the Sea Hawk after the Attacker would make for at least one worthwhile naval jet. The land based version of the Sea Hawk never left the prototype stage, as far as I know. It was that version that led to the Hawker Hunter. The P.1052 (IIRC) was a later prototype that functioned as a test bed for the swept wings that the Hunter would later have, for example. The Hunter was developed from the P.1040 and later prototypes. I suspect Gaijin would place them in the Fleet Air Arm line, as there are still no naval planes placed outside of that line

[PremiumFuelOnly 1,604]

I've been waiting for this plane to make it in the game, and am rather surprised that it hasn't been added already - especially since it's the UK's parallel equivalent to the USN Banshee.

 

+1

[Shuri_96 1,297]

The more British aircraft the merrier! +1

[Borotovas 4,500]

How is this aircraft not in the game yet, it is beautiful.

 

+1 I support it being added for Germany as well, because Germany is lacking jet aircraft.

 

[CK_16 791]

+1

 

Should replace the MiG-15bis with this or the G.91 imo. 

 

Either make the current German tree only WWII and West Germany. Or split the tree at 7.7 and move the Maus down.

[Borotovas 4,500]

20 minutes ago, CK_16 said:

+1

 

Should replace the MiG-15bis with this or the G.91 imo. 

 

Either make the current German tree only WWII and West Germany. Or split the tree at 7.7 and move the Maus down.

 

I'd prefer if Germany was split and got all its East and West German vehicles.

[CK_16 791]

Me too, just a lot of people still don't like the idea of clones and copies ect.

 

Plus some out there like and want the ability for a massive mixed line up and screw real history.

 

 

[Borotovas 4,500]

1 minute ago, CK_16 said:

Me too, just a lot of people still don't like the idea of clones and copies ect.

 

Plus some out there like and want the ability for a massive mixed line up and screw real history.

 

Who exactly? Why are you supporting a group of people that you're not part of or know?

 

MiG-15bis will never be removed, because people already got it. It can just be hidden, but it will always exist. So it makes sence to split the tree, rather than hide it and make the problem worse.

[CK_16 791]

I am not supporting them, just saying a lot of ppl don't like my idea of splitting I posted earlier lol.

[Borotovas 4,500]

2 minutes ago, CK_16 said:

I am not supporting them, just saying a lot of ppl don't like my idea of splitting I posted earlier lol.

 

I've never heard of that before. Splitting the tree is the most logical choice at this point.

[KoocieKoo 908]

7.7 and 8.0 br.

[Borotovas 4,500]

3 hours ago, KoocieKoo said:

7.7 and 8.0 br.

 

That would be a good BR.

[Delta_48 471]

+1 Both of these planes would be good additions, along with the German version since it has some differences from the original version

[Dan_RAFBC 1,201]

Fully supported by me, before the Sea Venom FAW.20 I think is the best place in the tech tree, FGA.6

[leroyonly 4,311]

As a Hawker Sea Hawk FGA Mk. 6 will be added in update 1.87 "Locked on!",

 

Moved to Implemented Suggestions.