Hawker P.1090

[PMN1]

This was (in August 1951), a 'Supersonic development of the Hunter with 50 degree swept wing, a reheated Gyron and four 30mm Aden cannon'

Size was span 35.33ft, length 51.75ft, wing area 358 sq ft.

Does anyone know what kind of performance it would have had?

[Groggy]

Performance,

Insane!

With a far larger airframe and mass the much later P1121 with a similar engine and airframe limits would have been at least twice as fast as the best Hunter

[Red Admiral]

I'm a big fan of the Gyron actually. Its a very simple engine with a low pressure ratio so fuel consumption isn't great (1.04lb/lbf-hr) but is optimised for Mach 2-3 flight regime and doesn't weight that much either. The Orenda Iroquois makes a nice comparison but is a later engine. You've got a more complicated design with manufacturing problems from all the titanium. The fuel consumption is less (~0.85) because of the higher pressure ratio but the engine itself weighs over 1000lb more. Unless you're flying a really long way the Gyron makes a lot more sense.

The P.1090 would have had very good performance but is let down on speed by the airframe. The nozzles are fixed and probably only good for M1.6ish. Still, with almost a 1:1 thrust:weight ratio climb and acceleration would have been unmatched.