Hawker Hunter F. Mark 2

The Hawker Hunter F.Mark 2 was the first version of the aircraft to be powered by the Armstrong Siddeley Sapphire engine. Forty-five F.2s were built by Armstrong Whitworth at Coventry, and most of them were issued to Nos.257 and 263 Squadrons, which began to receive their aircraft by the end of 1954. The Sapphire didn’t suffer from the same engine surge problems as the early Rolls-Royce Avon used in the F.Mark 1, and so was cleared to fire its guns at up to 47,000ft. It also had better fuel consumption figures than the Avon, although the F.2 did suffer from the same small fuel capacity, greatly limiting its range or endurance.

The F.Mark 2 would be followed into service by the more numerous Sapphire powered Mark 5. More powerful versions of the Sapphire engine were then under development, but the first attempts to fit them into the Hunter were disappointing, and the success of the large Avon 200 series engines meant that no further versions of the Sapphire powered Hunter were produced.

Two F.Mark 2s were used for experiments. WN891 was sent to Canada for winterisation trials, while the prototype WB202 was used to test out the aerodynamic impact of carrying four D.H. Firestreak missiles, carrying four dummy missiles.

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How to cite this article: Rickard, J (1 May 2010), Hawker Hunter F. Mark 2 , http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/weapons_hawker_hunter_2.html

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