Hawker Hedgehog

The Hawker Hedgehog was a three-seat reconnaissance biplane for naval scouting, built to Air Ministry Specification 37/22. It was designed in 1923 and made its first flight the next year with F. P. Raynham as pilot. The crew was a pilot, an observer and an air gunner, and the structure was wood covered with fabric, typical of the period. It had a nine-cylinder Bristol Jupiter IV radial engine driving a two-bladed wooden propeller, floats fitted with wheels so it could operate as an amphibian, and wings that folded to a width of about 4.9 metres for storage. Armament was one forward-firing Vickers gun and one Lewis gun on a Scarff ring. Testing went well, but the project was cancelled because it was not enough better than the Avro Bison and Blackburn Blackburn, and only one prototype was built.