Hawker Harrier

Hawker Aircraft · United Kingdom · first flew 1927 · light aircraft

The Hawker Harrier of 1927 was a British two-seat biplane used for communications and light utility duties, completely unrelated to the later famous V/STOL jet aircraft of the same name. It was a conventional fabric-covered biplane of its era.

Recognition (WEFT)

W — Wings	High-mounted, straight
E — Engines	1 × piston, nose-mounted
F — Fuselage	9.02 m fuselage
T — Tail	Conventional

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Spot it by:

1927 Hawker single-engine biplane — not the famous VTOL jet
Open-cockpit light biplane with a rotary or radial engine
Inter-war British light aircraft unrelated to the V/STOL Harrier

A conventional two-bay biplane with equal-span wings, an open tandem cockpit, fixed undercarriage, and a single radial engine — indistinguishable from other British light biplanes of the late 1920s without close examination of markings.

Specifications

The Hawker Harrier has a length of 9.02 m (30 ft).
It has a wingspan of 14.1 m (46 ft).
Its maximum speed is 217 km/h (135 mph).
Typical crew: 2.

Figures are for the representative variant described above; marks differ. See how AircraftIQ sources figures.

History

Built by H.G. Hawker Engineering in 1927 as a light commercial and communications aircraft, the Harrier biplane saw only limited production. The name was reused by Hawker decades later for the iconic jump-jet, causing occasional historical confusion. The 1927 aircraft predates the Hawker Aircraft name by a year.

Variants

No significant variants; a small series of essentially identical aircraft was produced.

Where you'll see it

Used in small numbers for private and communications flying in Britain in the late 1920s and early 1930s.

Related aircraft

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