Another 'almost-was'. Having illustrated the unbuilt
Tempest Mk.III, I decided to do another unbuilt Hawker fighter design from Tony Buttler's book,
British Secret Projects 3: Fighters and Bombers 1935-1950.
http://beyondthesprues.com/Forum/index.php?topic=4576.msg76021#msg76021The Hawker P.1027 was Hawker's first stab at a fighter powered by Rolls-Royce's new 42H engine (later dubbed the
Eagle). In effect, the Sept 1943 design was a revised
Tempest and that fighter's 42-foot span wing was used unchanged. However, I have assumed that the 39-ft 9-inch fuselage more closely resembled that of a
Fury (albeit, being somewhat lengthened).
Although the appearance of the later
Eagle-powered P.1030 is reasonably well-known, AFAIK, there are no surviving drawings of the P.1027. However, it is described as having a
Mustang-like radiator bath and slightly smaller overall dimensions than the P.1030 which eclipsed it.
In the end, neither the P.1027 nor the larger P.1030 (with its leading-edge raditors) was built. Buttler also mentions an even smaller
Eagle-powered design -- the P.1032, a direct
Fury derivative, Now that is a little harder to envision!
[Top] A hypothetical P.1027 prototype with its Rolls-Royce 46H
Eagle powerplant exposed.
[Bottom] A whif production P.1027, the Hawker
Cyclone F.1. This aircraft is shown in the markings of No.600 (City of London) Squadron, RAuxAF. It is assumed that No.600 replaced the
Spitfire F.14e with the Hawker fighter (instead of the RW
Spitfire F.21s and then F.22s).