Hawker Nimrod
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- This article is about a 1930s fighter aircraft. For the 1960s maritime patrol aircraft, see Hawker-Siddeley Nimrod.
One aircraft was supplied to Japan, one to Portugal, and two went to Denmark, where they were known as the Nimrodderne.
The Nimrod arose out of the need for more modern aircraft within the Royal Navy. By 1932 such was the state of the Navy's Fleet Air Arm, that its principal fighter, the Fairey Flycatcher had become so obsolete in terms of its speed, that RAF officers often joked that a spritely fly might actually give the plane a run for its money. As a result the air ministry put out a tender for a new naval fighter. The Nimrod, like its land-based counterpart the Hawker Fury, was amongst the latest in a long line of fighters dating back to the Sopwith designs which fought in World War One. Designed by Sidney Camm, who would later go on the design the Hawker Hurricane, Typhoon, and Tempest, the Nimrod followed the standard design philosophy of the time in being a single-seater biplane with open cockpit, fixed undercarriage, and twin machine guns using interruptor gear to fire through the propellor. With a top speed of 193 mph it was a vast improvement over the Flycatcher, though marginally slower than the Hawker Fury. Like that aircraft however it had been replaced by more modern designs such as the Gloster Sea Gladiator by the time war was declared.
Specifications (Nimrod Mk.II)
General characteristics
- Crew: one pilot
- Length: 26 ft 6 in (8.09 m)
- Wingspan: 33 ft 7 in (10.23 m)
- Height: 9 ft 10 in (3.00 m)
- Wing area: 300 ft² (27.96 m²)
- Empty: 3,110 lb (1,413 kg)
- Loaded: lb ( kg)
- Maximum takeoff: 4,050 lb (1,841 kg)
- Powerplant: 1x Rolls-Royce Kestrel VFP inline piston engine, 806 hp (601 kW)
Performance
- Maximum speed: 194 mph (311 km/h)
- Range: miles ( km)
- Service ceiling: 28,000 ft (8,535 m)
- Rate of climb: ft/min ( m/min)
- Wing loading: lb/ft² ( kg/m²)
- Power/mass: hp/lb ( kW/kg)
Armament
- 2x forward firing fixed .303 (7.7 mm) machine guns
- 4x 20 lb (9 kg) bombs on underwing racks
Related content
Related development: Hawker Fury - Hawker NornComparable aircraft:
Designation sequence:
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