Hawker Hedgehog

The Hawker Hedgehog was a three-seat reconnaissance biplane, to be used for naval scouting produced to meet Air Ministry Specification 37/22.

It was designed in 1923, and had its first flight the next year, piloted by FP Raynham. The crew consisted of the pilot, an observer and an air gunner. Construction was typical of the period; a wooden structure covered with fabric. The powerplant was a nine cylinder Bristol Jupiter IV radial engine driving a two-bladed wooden propeller.

While testing was successful, on completion of the flight tests, the project was cancelled. This was due to the Hedgehog's performance not being sufficiently better than the existing aircraft used for Naval reconnaissance, the Avro Bison and Blackburn Blackburn. Consequently, only one prototype was built. The armament of the aircraft was one fixed forward firing .303 in (7.7 mm) Vickers gun and one .303 in (7.7 mm) Lewis gun on a Scarff ring in the rear cockpit. The aircraft was fitted with floats that contained wheels to enable use as an amphibian. Also the wings could be folded, so that the width was reduced to 16 ft 7½ in (4.87 m) for storage.