Swiss Hunters

[Gondor]

So the inboard Sidewinder is on an additional pylon (to the two 'usual' pylons)? I'm presuming they could get twin-rail launchers like Sea Harriers got.
A centre-line store is different, I'd not realised that about the Singaporean Hunters.

I'm seeing a FGA.9 further developed with Swiss/Singapore bolt-ons, and a force-multiplier fighter with 4+ Sidewinders similar to how the Hawk T.1A was produced.

What's the possible weapon loaded further out along the wing? Didn't they used to have rockets (a la Typhoon) hung at that point? Or did that replace the outer pylon? Could you square the wing-tips off (a la Hawk this time) for additional Sidewinders?

The outer "normal" pylons on this display aircraft have sidewinders on them in addition to the "new" pylon in front of the undercarriage. You can just see to the right a pair of low drag bombs that are additionally carried on the underside of the fuselage but I can't remember off the top of my head if there were more carried elsewhere on the fuselage.

Gondor

[The Wooksta!]

Found this photo on the site I linked to for Swiss Hunters:



And it's giving me an idea for a final flight special scheme for 607s Hunters.

[Weaver]

With regard to tip pylons, Hawker did test tip-tanks on an F.4, but they caused more aerodynamic problems than they were worth, so I'd guess that they'd be wary of wingtip missile rails.

[The Wooksta!]

That's a bit odd, because they were continually coming up with tip tanks on advance Hunter projects after those tests.

Missile rails might be a tad different.

[Weaver]

Sorry, my bad: it was an F.6 that tested tip tanks, not an F.4. Apparently the problem was buffeting. Tip tanks/rails are also more likely to be problematic on a swept wing than a straight or delta one due to aeroelastic issues.

Apparently the Singaporean centreline pylon was done with help from Lockheed. It looks to me like they reinforced the skins locally, then fitted pylon hardware directly to the airframe, thus allowing a triple-ejector-rack to be fitted with only two bombs on it.

[TallEng]

Found this photo on the site I linked to for Swiss Hunters:



And it's giving me an idea for a final flight special scheme for 607s Hunters.

The mind boggles
607s Sqn. Colours were yellow and mauve....

Regards
Keith

[Weaver]

Here's the Rhodesian AIM-9B fit. Apparently they also used South African V3 Kukris as well:



Yes, that does appear to be South African roundel on the aircraft, and no, I don't know why. South Africa didn't use Hunters, so my guess is that a Rhodesian one was in SA for the integration work and they put an SAAF roundel on it to make it less conspicuous to a casual observer.

[The Wooksta!]

Would HSA have known about that mod?  Could it have been applied to UK Hunters giving the FGA9 a measure of extra protection/offensive capability?  I mean, big ferry tanks,  'winders and Matra pods would be rather handy if Breznev's forces start rumbling past the east German border.

[perttime]

Found this photo on the site I linked to for Swiss Hunters:

(img)

And it's giving me an idea for a final flight special scheme for 607s Hunters.

A bit of searching found quite a few photos. Airliners.net, and others. And:

"""
In 2001 the aeroplane was acquired by the Hunter Flying Group in Altenrhein and registered as HB-RVV. The aircraft was painted as ´Tiger Hunter´ in 2009, following the original ´Tiger-look´ Hunter J-4053 from Staffel 11 at Meiringen, that was wearing such livery in 1973.
"""
http://afterburner.com.pl/north-american-p-51d-mustang-and-hawker-hunter-t-mk-68/

[Weaver]

Would HSA have known about that mod?  Could it have been applied to UK Hunters giving the FGA9 a measure of extra protection/offensive capability?  I mean, big ferry tanks,  'winders and Matra pods would be rather handy if Breznev's forces start rumbling past the east German border.

Good question - don't know. It's entirely credible that they'd work it out for themselves though: if somebody tells you they want four Sidewinders and four drop tanks on a Hunter, there's only so many things you can do, and the rocket-rail mounting are there anyway, so...

All this reminds me of the time I was looking at Hunter cutaways and profiles and had the 'original' realization that if it was okay for the two-seater to be longer than the single-seater without a fin or rear-fuselage stretch, then that meant you could stretch the forward fuselage of a single-seater to get more fuel in. Then I did some more reading, and discovered that the Central Fighter Establishment proposed exactly that in the late 1950s  . The CFE Hunter proposal also featured two ADENs with 300 rounds each instead of four with 150 rounds each, a non-afterburning Avon 301 of 12,650lb thrust and Sidewinders. All eminently sensible, but never acted on, of course...

[Knightflyer]

Would HSA have known about that mod?  Could it have been applied to UK Hunters giving the FGA9 a measure of extra protection/offensive capability?  I mean, big ferry tanks,  'winders and Matra pods would be rather handy if Breznev's forces start rumbling past the east German border.

Good question - don't know. It's entirely credible that they'd work it out for themselves though: if somebody tells you they want four Sidewinders and four drop tanks on a Hunter, there's only so many things you can do, and the rocket-rail mounting are there anyway, so...

All this reminds me of the time I was looking at Hunter cutaways and profiles and had the 'original' realization that if it was okay for the two-seater to be longer than the single-seater without a fin or rear-fuselage stretch, then that meant you could stretch the forward fuselage of a single-seater to get more fuel in. Then I did some more reading, and discovered that the Central Fighter Establishment proposed exactly that in the late 1950s  . The CFE Hunter proposal also featured two ADENs with 300 rounds each instead of four with 150 rounds each, a non-afterburning Avon 301 of 12,650lb thrust and Sidewinders. All eminently sensible, but never acted on, of course...

Mmmmm......do you think Colin (Freightdog) might be able to create that one for us?   

[The Wooksta!]

TBH, it's doable from two Hunters anyway - you have a leftover forward fuselage after you've converted one to the tandem seat trainer with Colin's conversion, so trim it down a bit, remove the cockpit section from a second Hunter and use it as a fuselage extension.

I know what I mean, I'm just finding it hard to describe!

And if you bollocks it up, well, just get another tandem seat conversion.

[kitnut617]

A Canadian company called Northern Lights has quite a few of those Swiss Hunters.

[Knightflyer]

TBH, it's doable from two Hunters anyway - you have a leftover forward fuselage after you've converted one to the tandem seat trainer with Colin's conversion, so trim it down a bit, remove the cockpit section from a second Hunter and use it as a fuselage extension.

I know what I mean, I'm just finding it hard to describe!

And if you bollocks it up, well, just get another tandem seat conversion.

Oh I agree, but the "everything in one package" with less fettling (for those of of us that don't fettle so much) is attractive 

[The Wooksta!]

Fettling is much more fun. 

Besides which, if you can handle the saw cuts to do one mod, a few more and some strips of plastic card to stiffen the interior isn't that hard to do.