Ralph Hooper
Encyclopedia
Ralph Spenser Hooper OBE FREng FRAeS is an English aeronautical engineer, recognised mostly for his work on the Harrier, specifically in relation the marriage between the Pegasus engine and the layout of the aircraft, allowing it to safely hover with margins of stability.
and Sir Sydney Camm, as being one of the three people who created the Harrier aircraft. Unlike them, he was not knighted. He was awarded the Royal Aeronautical Society
's Gold Medal in 1986 for his work on the Harrier and Hawk.
He was succeeded as Chief Designer of the Harrier in 1965 by (later Professor) John Fozard
, who continued in this post until 1978. Fozard became Chief Designer of the P1154 from October 1963.
He later became Deputy Technical Director of British Aerospace
at Kingston upon Thames
(the base of Hawker
) in Surrey
.
Pegasus engine, Gordon Lewis
, they came to an arrangement of engine and aircraft design, resulting in the initial designs of the Hawker Siddeley P.1127. The Pegasus design was initially designated as the BE.53, when the final four-nozzle layout was not arrived at. The Bristol Siddeley Orpheus
had been the starting point for the engine, with the Orpheus 3 first used, then an Orpheus 6. The Harrier project, unlike most modern British military aircraft, had not been developed in response to a Government requirement but was Hawker's own unsupported project, and from 1959 was the only aircraft that Hawker was working on. It was also produced at a time when many concurrent aircraft projects, from Government requirements, would be drastically cancelled. The Pegasus engine development was financially supported by a department of NATO.
The first design had an engine that only vectored the thrust from the engine's fan (cool air) - this was only 50% of the engine's total thrust. Vectoring from the high-temperature engine exhaust was not originally contemplated, or thought possible. However he realised that the hot exhaust gases could be bifurcated, as demonstrated on the earlier Hawker Sea Hawk
, to provide enough thrust for vertical take off, the fundamental layout of the Harrier.
By March 1958 he had finally arrived at (what would become) the design of the Harrier, with its distinctive anhedral
wing design and undercarriage with wing-tip outrigger
s. The undercarriage design was much disliked by Sir Sydney Camm. Detailed design of the wing began in August 1958. In March 1959, the Government issued the General Operational Requirement (GOR) 345 for a vertical take off aircraft, in response its knowledge of the design work of the P.1127. This was followed in May 1959 by the Government specification ER 204D.
In early 1960, work at NASA's Ames Research Center had demonstrated that transition from vertical to conventional flight would be possible. On 22 June 1960, the project finally received a contract and finance from the Ministry of Aviation
. XP831 first flew (tethered) on 21 October 1960 (now at the Royal Air Force Museum London) with a Pegasus 2 engine at Hawker's Dunsfold Aerodrome
flown by Bill Bedford
. Untethered flight first took place on 19 November 1960. The first conventional flight took place on 13 March 1961 from RAE Bedford
, and it was there on 12 September 1961 that the first full transition from vertical to conventional flight took place, surprisingly with little incident. The first crash took place (XP636) on 14 December 1961 with the pilot successfully ejecting. Anhedral tailplane
s were introduced in 1962.
In 1964, the prototypes were improved with a more swept wing and a more powerful Pegasus 5 engine, and in November 1964 it was designated as the Hawker Siddeley Kestrel, and was trialled by pilots from the RAF
, the German Luftwaffe and the US Air Force at RAF West Raynham
until November 1965. It was funded by these other two air forces as well. Hawker had become Hawker Siddeley in 1963.
The Kestrel was only meant to be a development aircraft for the later P.1154, but was what became the Harrier. The RAF was not pleased about this change of events. The Kestrel was developed under Air Staff Requirement 384. The resulting aircraft had a Pegasus 6 engine, with a new design of air intakes, and redesigned wings to improve longitudinal stability. In December 1966, 60 aircraft were ordered by the Government, and by 1967 had been christened as the Harrier.
. This was cancelled by the new Labour government in February 1965, when the aircraft was in the process of advanced assembly. It was originally to be called the Harrier, and would have had Plenum Chamber Burning in the front nozzle to improve thrust in the BS.100 engine. Although originally for use by Royal Navy and RAF squadrons, in 1963 it was decided the Royal Navy would use the McDonnell Aircraft
Phantom.
in 1999.
Career
He is sometimes referred to, with Sir Stanley HookerStanley Hooker
Sir Stanley George Hooker was a jet engine engineer, first at Rolls-Royce where he worked on the earliest designs such as the Welland and Derwent, and later at Bristol Aero Engines where he helped bring the troubled Proteus and Olympus to market, and then designed the famous Pegasus.Stanley George...
and Sir Sydney Camm, as being one of the three people who created the Harrier aircraft. Unlike them, he was not knighted. He was awarded the Royal Aeronautical Society
Royal Aeronautical Society
The Royal Aeronautical Society, also known as the RAeS, is a multidisciplinary professional institution dedicated to the global aerospace community.-Function:...
's Gold Medal in 1986 for his work on the Harrier and Hawk.
He was succeeded as Chief Designer of the Harrier in 1965 by (later Professor) John Fozard
John Fozard
Prof John William Fozard OBE FRS FREng FRAeS FAIAA was a British aeronautical engineer who helped to design the Hawker Siddeley Harrier.-Early life:He was the son of John Fozard and Eleanor Paulkitt...
, who continued in this post until 1978. Fozard became Chief Designer of the P1154 from October 1963.
He later became Deputy Technical Director of British Aerospace
British Aerospace
British Aerospace plc was a UK aircraft, munitions and defence-systems manufacturer. Its head office was in the Warwick House in the Farnborough Aerospace Centre in Farnborough, Hampshire...
at Kingston upon Thames
Kingston upon Thames
Kingston upon Thames is the principal settlement of the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames in southwest London. It was the ancient market town where Saxon kings were crowned and is now a suburb situated south west of Charing Cross. It is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the...
(the base of Hawker
Hawker Aircraft
Hawker Aircraft Limited was a British aircraft manufacturer responsible for some of the most famous products in British aviation history.-History:...
) in Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
.
Harrier
Working from 1957 with the designer of the Bristol SiddeleyBristol Siddeley
Bristol Siddeley Engines Ltd was a British aero engine manufacturer. The company was formed in 1959 by a merger of Bristol Aero-Engines Limited and Armstrong Siddeley Motors Limited. In 1961 the company was expanded by the purchase of the de Havilland Engine Company and the engine division of...
Pegasus engine, Gordon Lewis
Gordon Lewis (engineer)
Gordon Manns Lewis CBE, FREng, was a British aeronautical engineer who made significant contributions to the arts and sciences of turbine engine design. He was born in Cheltenham in 1924, the son of a clerk on the Great Western Railway. He won a scholarship to Pembroke College, Oxford and...
, they came to an arrangement of engine and aircraft design, resulting in the initial designs of the Hawker Siddeley P.1127. The Pegasus design was initially designated as the BE.53, when the final four-nozzle layout was not arrived at. The Bristol Siddeley Orpheus
Bristol Siddeley Orpheus
-See also:-References:* Retrieved: 29 September 2008-External links:*...
had been the starting point for the engine, with the Orpheus 3 first used, then an Orpheus 6. The Harrier project, unlike most modern British military aircraft, had not been developed in response to a Government requirement but was Hawker's own unsupported project, and from 1959 was the only aircraft that Hawker was working on. It was also produced at a time when many concurrent aircraft projects, from Government requirements, would be drastically cancelled. The Pegasus engine development was financially supported by a department of NATO.
The first design had an engine that only vectored the thrust from the engine's fan (cool air) - this was only 50% of the engine's total thrust. Vectoring from the high-temperature engine exhaust was not originally contemplated, or thought possible. However he realised that the hot exhaust gases could be bifurcated, as demonstrated on the earlier Hawker Sea Hawk
Hawker Sea Hawk
The Hawker Sea Hawk was a British single-seat jet fighter of the Fleet Air Arm , the air branch of the Royal Navy , built by Hawker Aircraft and its sister company, Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft. Although its origins stemmed from earlier Hawker piston-engined fighters, the Sea Hawk became the...
, to provide enough thrust for vertical take off, the fundamental layout of the Harrier.
By March 1958 he had finally arrived at (what would become) the design of the Harrier, with its distinctive anhedral
Anhedral
* Anhedral angle, the downward angle from horizontal of the wings or tailplane of a fixed-wing aircraft* Anhedral , a rock texture without crystal faces or cross-section shape in thin section...
wing design and undercarriage with wing-tip outrigger
Outrigger
An outrigger is a part of a boat's rigging which is rigid and extends beyond the side or gunwale of a boat.In an outrigger canoe and in sailboats such as the proa, an outrigger is a thin, long, solid, hull used to stabilise an inherently unstable main hull. The outrigger is positioned rigidly and...
s. The undercarriage design was much disliked by Sir Sydney Camm. Detailed design of the wing began in August 1958. In March 1959, the Government issued the General Operational Requirement (GOR) 345 for a vertical take off aircraft, in response its knowledge of the design work of the P.1127. This was followed in May 1959 by the Government specification ER 204D.
Ministry of Aviation
Ministry of Aviation was a department of the United Kingdom government, established in 1959. Its responsibilities included the regulation of civil aviation and the supply of military aircraft, which it took on from the Ministry of Supply....
. XP831 first flew (tethered) on 21 October 1960 (now at the Royal Air Force Museum London) with a Pegasus 2 engine at Hawker's Dunsfold Aerodrome
Dunsfold Aerodrome
Dunsfold Aerodrome in Surrey, England, near the village of Cranleigh, was built by the Canadian Army and civilian contractors as a Class A Bomber Airfield for Army Co-operation Command...
flown by Bill Bedford
Bill Bedford
Alfred William "Bill" Bedford OBE AFC FRAeS was a British test pilot and pioneered the development of V/STOL aircraft.Bedford was born on the 18 November 1920 at Loughborough and was educated at Loughborough College...
. Untethered flight first took place on 19 November 1960. The first conventional flight took place on 13 March 1961 from RAE Bedford
RAE Bedford
RAE Bedford based near the village of Thurleigh, north of the town of Bedford in England, has been the site of major aircraft experimental development work....
, and it was there on 12 September 1961 that the first full transition from vertical to conventional flight took place, surprisingly with little incident. The first crash took place (XP636) on 14 December 1961 with the pilot successfully ejecting. Anhedral tailplane
Tailplane
A tailplane, also known as horizontal stabilizer , is a small lifting surface located on the tail behind the main lifting surfaces of a fixed-wing aircraft as well as other non-fixed wing aircraft such as helicopters and gyroplanes...
s were introduced in 1962.
In 1964, the prototypes were improved with a more swept wing and a more powerful Pegasus 5 engine, and in November 1964 it was designated as the Hawker Siddeley Kestrel, and was trialled by pilots from the RAF
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
, the German Luftwaffe and the US Air Force at RAF West Raynham
RAF West Raynham
RAF West Raynham was a Royal Air Force station located west of the village of West Raynham in Norfolk, England. It opened in the 1930s and closed in 1994. During the Second World War, RAF Bomber Command operations from RAF West Raynham claimed 86 aircraft. The site was sold by the Ministry of...
until November 1965. It was funded by these other two air forces as well. Hawker had become Hawker Siddeley in 1963.
The Kestrel was only meant to be a development aircraft for the later P.1154, but was what became the Harrier. The RAF was not pleased about this change of events. The Kestrel was developed under Air Staff Requirement 384. The resulting aircraft had a Pegasus 6 engine, with a new design of air intakes, and redesigned wings to improve longitudinal stability. In December 1966, 60 aircraft were ordered by the Government, and by 1967 had been christened as the Harrier.
P.1154
In 1962 he won the NATO NEMA-3 International Design Competition for his work on the proposed supersonic version of the Harrier, the Hawker Siddeley P.1154Hawker Siddeley P.1154
The Hawker Siddeley P.1154 was a planned supersonic vertical/short take-off and landing fighter aircraft designed by Hawker Siddeley Aviation . Developed alongside the subsonic and smaller Hawker Siddeley P.1127/Kestrel, the P.1154 was derived from the P.1150. The P.1150 proposal did not meet NATO...
. This was cancelled by the new Labour government in February 1965, when the aircraft was in the process of advanced assembly. It was originally to be called the Harrier, and would have had Plenum Chamber Burning in the front nozzle to improve thrust in the BS.100 engine. Although originally for use by Royal Navy and RAF squadrons, in 1963 it was decided the Royal Navy would use the McDonnell Aircraft
McDonnell Aircraft
The McDonnell Aircraft Corporation was an American aerospace manufacturer based in St. Louis, Missouri. The company was founded on July 16, 1939 by James Smith McDonnell, and was best known for its military fighters, including the F-4 Phantom II, and manned spacecraft including the Mercury capsule...
Phantom.
Personal life
He became a Fellow of the Royal Academy of EngineeringRoyal Academy of Engineering
-Overview: is the UK’s national academy of engineering. The Academy brings together the most successful and talented engineers from across the engineering sectors for a shared purpose: to advance and promote excellence in engineering....
in 1999.