72194 BRITISH RECONNAISANCE-FIGHTER PLANE HAWKER HECTOR

The Hawker Hector was a British military observation and cooperation aircraft in a mixed biplane design with a fixed undercarriage from the interwar period and World War II. The drive was provided by a single engine Napier Dagger III with 805 hp. The prototype flight took place in 1936. In the course of serial production, which lasted in the years 1936-1937, 178 copies of this aircraft were produced. The armament was 2 7.7 mm machine guns and a load of up to 102 kg of bombs. The Hawker Hector was created to replace the Audax aircraft in the RAF. Its design was largely based on the Hawker Hart, with a completely new, much more powerful engine, reinforced hull, chassis and slightly changed on-board armament. The Hawker Hector's service in the line was very short, because already in 1938 it began to be replaced by Westland Lysander planes, and otherwise completely new planes - transferred to the reserve. Airplanes of this type were used in combat in France in the summer of 1940, and later - as they did not meet the requirements of the battlefield - moved to auxiliary tasks, e.g. towing gliders. A small number of them were sold to Ireland during World War II.