Hawker Hunter 3 Sqdn RAF

About

The Hawker Hunter is the work of Sir Sydney Camm, the legendary Hawker chief designer responsible for the Hurricane, Tempest, Sea Fury, and ultimately the Hunter. The prototype made its first flight on July 20, 1951, with Hawker chief test pilot Neville Duke at the controls. The Hunter entered RAF service in 1954 and went on to be one of the most successful British fighter aircraft of the Cold War era, with total production reaching approximately 1,972 airframes across all variants.

The Hunter's defining qualities were aesthetic and aerodynamic. The clean swept-wing layout, single-engine intake, and elegant fuselage proportions earned the type a reputation as one of the most beautiful jet fighters ever built. Performance was equally impressive — Neville Duke set a world airspeed record of 727.6 mph in a Hunter F.3 in September 1953, and the type proved capable in both the air-superiority and ground-attack roles. The F.6 variant introduced in 1956 became the definitive Hunter, with the Rolls-Royce Avon Mk.207 engine giving the airframe its full performance potential.

This RC variant carries 3 Squadron RAF livery — one of the many RAF squadrons that flew the Hunter through the type's frontline and operational training roles. Hunters served with the RAF, Royal Navy (as the Sea Hawk and Hunter T.8), and over twenty foreign air forces, with Swiss and Lebanese Hunters continuing in service into the 1990s.

In the simulator

A demanding swept-wing British fighter scale subject. Use it for jet pattern flying with the elegant visual signature of one of the most beautiful jets ever built.