Preserved Hawker Nimrod II 1930 fighter aircraft flying at Flying Legends Airshow
The Hawker Nimrod was a British carrier-based single engine, single seat biplane fighter aircraft built in the early 1930s by Hawker Aircraft. The Nimrod had an overall similarity to the Fury: it was a single-seater biplane with an open cockpit, fixed undercarriage and guns firing through the propeller. Its unswept, constant chord, round tipped wings had unequal span and strong stagger, the latter partly to enhance the pilot's view. It was a single bay biplane braced with outward leaning N-form interplane struts, the upper plane held a little above the upper fuselage by cabane struts. The fabric covered wings had metal spars and spruce ribs and carried balanced ailerons only on the upper wings. The first production Nimrod Is entered service in 1932 with Flight on HMS Glorious. Others went to 402 and 409 Flights soon after. Fleet Air Arm flights were reorganized into Squadrons early in 1933, with the Nimrods joining 801, 802 and 803 Squadrons RAF. The Nimrod II followed in September 1934. Few Nimrods were exported, though one aircraft was supplied to Japan and one to Portugal. Two went to Denmark, where they were known as the Nimrodderne. They were intended as pattern aircraft for proposed licence building and were essentially Nimrod Is, though powered by Kestrel IIIS engines. One, unusually, was fitted with spats. The Nimrod had been replaced by more modern designs such as the Sea Gladiator by May 1939, before the start of World War II Two Nimrods survive, both airworthy and both based at the Imperial War Museum's Duxford Aerodrome, Cambridgeshire. Both served with No. 802 Squadron Nimrod I; S1581, G-BWWK is operated by The Fighter Collection. It is the fourth production Mk. I, dating from late 1931 and from the first batch built. Nimrod II; K3661, G-BURZ is operated by the Historic Aircraft Collection. It is the penultimate FAA Nimrod, built in early 1934
Size: 5000px × 3333px
Location: Duxford Cambridgeshire England
Photo credit: © Niall Ferguson / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: 1930, air, aircraft, arm, carrier, fighter, fleet, flying, hawker, ii, nimrod, raf
