Hawker Siddeley P.1127

what is it?

The Hawker P.1127 and the Hawker Siddeley Kestrel FGA.1 are the British experimental and development aircraft that led to the Hawker Siddeley Harrier, the first vertical and/or short take-off and landing (V/STOL) jet fighter-bomber. Development began in 1957, taking advantage of the Bristol Engine Company's choice to invest in the creation of the Pegasus vectored-thrust engine. Testing began in July 1960 and by the end of the year the aircraft had achieved both vertical take-off and horizontal flight.

🔎How to recognise it: 1 jet engine · 7 m wingspan

base stats

• speed 1,143 km/htop speed
• size 7,711 kgmax take-off weight
• built 6made in total

Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).

fun facts

• 🎂First flew 66 years ago, in 1960.
• 🏎️Top speed is 8.8× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
• 🏔️Can fly 1.9× higher than Mount Everest (8,849 m).

jet: Gas turbine pushing air out the back (turbofan or turbojet): fast and high-flying.

spec sheet

first flight

1960-11-19

number built

6

role

experimental v/stol aircraft

origin

🇬🇧 United Kingdom

makers

Hawker Siddeley

engines

1× Bristol Siddeley Pegasus 5

crew

1

length

13 m

wingspan

7 m

height

3.3 m

max take-off weight

7,711 kg

top speed

1,143 km/h

range

—

ceiling

16,764 m

Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.