Hawker P.V.4

Hawker Aircraft · United Kingdom · first flew 1934 · fighter

The Hawker P.V.4 was a private venture biplane fighter built by Hawker Aircraft in 1934 to demonstrate advanced fighter design concepts. It incorporated a Rolls-Royce Goshawk engine with evaporative cooling condensers in the wing surface.

Recognition (WEFT)

W — Wings	Mid-mounted, tapered
E — Engines	1 × piston, nose-mounted
F — Fuselage	9.09 m fuselage
T — Tail	Conventional

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Spot it by:

Mid-1930s Hawker private venture biplane fighter
Single Rolls-Royce Goshawk engine with evaporative cooling
Tapered biplane wings with spatted or retractable undercarriage

A clean biplane fighter with tapered wings, evaporative cooling condensers visible along the upper wing surfaces, a spatted or retractable undercarriage, and the strong family resemblance to other Hawker biplanes of the period.

Specifications

The Hawker P.V.4 has a length of 9.09 m (30 ft).
It has a wingspan of 12.19 m (40 ft).
Its maximum speed is 295 km/h (183 mph).
Typical crew: 1.

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

History

Hawker designed the P.V.4 as a company-funded demonstrator to compete for potential RAF contracts in the era before the Hurricane. It featured a Goshawk engine with surface evaporative cooling, a system explored by several British designers in the early 1930s. The Goshawk's cooling system proved operationally complex and the P.V.4 was not adopted for production.

Variants

A single P.V.4 prototype was built; the lessons learned fed into Hawker's subsequent Hurricane development.

Where you'll see it

The P.V.4 did not enter service; it was a demonstration prototype.

Related aircraft

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