- Hawker Cygnet
infobox Aircraft
name =Cygnet
type =light competition aircraft
manufacturer =Hawker Engineering Co.
caption ="G-EBMB" (Photo copyright BAE Systems)
designer =Sydney Camm
first flight = 1924
introduced =
retired =
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produced =
number built =2
unit cost =
variants with their own articles=
developed from=The Hawker Cygnet was a British ultralight biplane aircraft of the 1920s.Background
In 1924 the
Royal Aero Club organized a Light Aircraft Competition. £3000 was offered in prizes. An entry was made byHawker Aircraft , which was a design bySydney Camm , the Cygnet. Camm had joined Hawker the previous year. Two aircraft were built ("G-EBMB" and "G-EBJH") and were entered in the competition, held in 1924 atLympne , by T. O. M. Sopwith andFred Sigrist . The aircraft were flown by Longton and Raynham and came in 4th and 3rd places respectively. The next year, 1925, "G-EBMB" was entered again in the 100-mile International Handicap Race, this time flown byGeorge Bulman , who won at a speed of 75.6 mph. At the same meeting, the Cygnet came 2nd in the 50-mile Light Aeroplane Race. In 1926, both aircraft were entered in the competition piloted by Bulman andFlying Officer Ragg, taking first and second place respectively.Design
The aircraft were of wood and fabric construction, the fuselage being four
longeron s strutted in the fashion of aWarren girder . The wing was two box spars with Warren truss ribs. Initially the two aircraft were powered one by anAnzani and the other by an ABC Scorpion (both opposed twin cylinder engines). In 1926 the engines in both Cygnets were changed to Bristol Cherub III another two-cylinder engine. The airframe weighed a remarkably low 270 lb, and its weight when empty was only 373 lb.History
"G-EBMB" was kept by Hawkers in storage until 1946 when it was refurbished and reassembled at Hawker's Langley Aerodrome. It was later transferred to their new facility at
Dunsfold , where it stayed, coming out for various displays and airshows, until 1972, when it was transferred to theRoyal Air Force Museum atHendon . More recently it has been transferred to their site at RAF Cosford inShropshire , where it can now be seen. [ " [http://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/cosford/collections/aircraft/hawker-cygnet.cfm Hawker Cygnet airplane pictures & aircraft photos - RAF Museums] " "RAF Museum". Retrieved16 August 2008 .] An airworthy replica is on display at theShuttleworth Collection ,Old Warden ,Bedfordshire . [ [http://www.shuttleworth.org/shuttleworth_aircraft_details.asp?ID=16 Aircraft: 1924-Hawker Cygnet] . "Shuttleworth Collection". Retrieved16 August 2008 .]pecifications
ee also
aircontent
related=similar aircraft=*
De Havilland Humming Bird sequence=
lists=
*List of civil aircraft
see also=References
*Mason, Francis K. "Hawker Aircraft since 1920". London:Putnam, 1991.ISBN 0 85177 839 9.
External links
* [http://www.britishaircraft.co.uk/aircraftpage.php?ID=441 British Aircraft Directory]
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