Country of origin:

United Kingdom

Description:

Two-seat light biplane bomber

Power Plant:

One 477 kw (640 hp) Rolls Royce Kestrel V twelve-cylinder VEE liquid-cooled engine

Specifications:

Armament:

One 7.7 mm (0.303 in) fixed machine gun firing forward; one 7.7 mm (0.303 in) Lewis machine gun in rear cockpit; up to 227 kg (500 lb) of bombs on underwing racks

History:

In 1934 the British Air Ministry foresaw the problems that may later occur in Europe and decided upon a major expansion program for its military services, one of the fruits of this plan being the Hawker Hind light bomber, designed as an interim replacement for the Hawker Hart, which had entered service in January 1930, pending the arrival of the Fairey Battle and Bristol Blenheim.

Basically a derivative of the Hart, the Hind differed in having a more powerful Kestrel V engine, but a number of improvements were made to the cockpit area to improve crew conditions, as well as providing a better field of fire for the machine gun, a prone position for bomb aiming, and a tailwheel in place of the skid. The prototype (K2915), which was a converted Hart, flew for the first time on 12 September 1934, and the first production Hind (K4636) flew on 4 September 1935 at Brooklands in Surrey, being the first of an initial batch of 20.

The type entered service with a number of Royal Air Force (RAF) squadrons during 1935. By early 1937, 337 Hinds had entered service with Bomber Command and 114 with Auxiliary Air Force units. Examples were also supplied to India, New Zealand, South Africa, Afghanistan, Latvia, Persia, Portugal, Switzerland and Yugoslavia. A variety of engines was fitted to meet customer requirements, including a number of variants of the Kestrel, the Bristol Mercury, and the Gnome Rhone Mistral K-9. By the beginning of World War II the type had been relegated to the training and communications role, and many were used as glider tugs. The type was also built as a two-seat trainer, 20 initially being ordered, and a further 120 being converted by General Aircraft.

Construction was an all-metal tubular framework with wooden formers and stringers, and fabric covering. Fuel capacity was 295 litres (65 Imp gals) in a tank on the top longerons between the engine and the cockpit, and a gravity tank (86 litres – 19 Imp gals) on the starboard half of the upper wing centre section.

A total of 60 Hawker Hinds (NZ1501 to NZ1560) was shipped to New Zealand to be operated as single-engine advanced trainers under the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan. A further three examples (NZ1561 to NZ1563) were assembled in New Zealand from spare parts and serviceable components from aircraft damaged in service. They equipped a training school at Ohakea, the first shipment of aircraft being received in September 1940. Many had already seen service with RAF flying schools and had dual controls. A number also saw service with No 6 Army Co-operation Squadron at Palmerston North. A further 15 aircraft were lost at sea en-route to New Zealand due to enemy action.

The majority of these aircraft were of the LB (light bomber) variant which had been converted in the United Kingdom for dual-control training, but a number had initially been built as trainers which differed in having RAF serials and the height of the cockpit sides taller. After arrival they were assembled and test flown at No 1 Assembly Depot at Hobsonville near Auckland before entering service with No 3 Flying Training School (FTS) at Ohakea. This unit in 1942 replaced the Hinds with North American Harvards.

Survivor, after replacement in the training role, then became available for the Army Co-operation role and 18 were made operational with armament and camouflage, entering service with No 6 Army Co-operation (AC) Squadron at Milson Aerodrome at Palmerston North on 20 February 1942, operating on occasions from Masterton, Wanganui, Paraparaumu and Ohakea. They were also used to tow drogues for Curtiss P-40 Kittyhawk units. Later No 6 (AC) Squadron was renamed No 21 (AC) Squadron.

In all 25 Hinds were lost in accidents. Four serials NZ1521, NZ1522, NZ1511 and NZ1538 and two Kestrel engines S9431 and S3757 were recorded as being shipped to Australia but it is not thought they were shipped as the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) has no record of their arrival or use.

In April 1942 an application was made for conversion of a number to components as spare parts. By September 1943 most RNZAF Hinds had been broken up or allotted as Instructional Airframes.

On 22 February 1944 Nelson, on New Zealand’s south island, was struck by a storm, with strong winds of up to 151 km/h (94 mph) at the airport being recorded. A number of Hawker Hinds and Vickers Vildebeest were parked at the aerodrome and some of these aircraft were wrecked, including two Hinds, one being blown all the way to Rabbit Island.

The Hind cockpit was described as roomy, and of the British design standards of the 1930s, “bits and pieces spread everywhere with very little logic”. The control column was of the spade type and the brakes were pneumatic total-loss system. Fuel was contained in a main fuselage tank of 291 litres (64 Imp gals) and two 86 litre (19 Imp gal) gravity tanks in the centre-section of the top wing.

Two Hinds are known to have survived in this region. NZ1518 has been in storage awaiting restoration for the Museum of Transport and Technology (MOTAT) in Auckland. Parts from NZ1528, NZ1535, and NZ1544 have been used in the restoration of NZ1554 by the Don Subritzky family at North Shore in New Zealand. After being displayed at the RNZAF Museum at Wigram for a period, this aircraft has been undergoing restoration to airworthiness, this necessitating the construction of new wings. It would appear enough parts have been located in New Zealand over the years to rebuild four Hinds to airworthiness and one for static display.

A number of Hinds were located at Kabul in Afghanistan in 1970 and taken to the United Kingdom where one was rebuilt to airworthiness by Aero Vintage. Others joined the collections of the Shuttleworth Trust (G-AENP /K5414), the RAF Museum, and the Canada Aviation & Space Museum (L7180). In 2004 during further conflict in the Afghanistan region up to a dozen Hind wrecks were located in a scrapyard behind the Kabul Military Training Area in Afghanistan.