BAE Hawks’ first Chief Aerodynamicist explores the creation of the last all-British military aircraft. He takes us from the first concept, to fulfil the RAF’s demand for a new trainer, through the major design decisions and challenges facing the project’s development, and shows how the team brought the project in on time, on cost and on spec.

The full story of the Hawk can be found in Harry Fraser-Mitchell’s paper in the Journal of Aeronautical History, which can be accessed via https://www.aerosociety.com/media/4842/the-hawk-story.pdf

Harry Fraser-Mitchell gave the first paper in an evening dedicated to the Hawk Aircraft : A British Success Story. The evening was organised by the Royal Aeronautical Society’s Historical Group on 20 October 2011. The session was introduced by Dr Kit Mitchell FRAeS and the recording was edited by Eur Ing Mike Stanberry FRAeS.