A Guide To The Hawker 1000

de Havilland Aircraft Company was one of the most prominent European aircraft manufacturers. The English company was founded in 1920 by Geoffrey de Havilland in the suburbs of London.

The founder was a technical director and chief designer for Airco prior to its purchase by Birmingham Small Arms Company (BSA). After the purchase, de Havilland formed the de Havilland Aircraft Company in September 1920.

The company initially focused on single-seat and trainer aircraft. However, the company then transitioned to producing aircraft that were powered by the company’s own Gipsy engines, with its most popular aircraft becoming the Gipsy Moth.

This led to the creation of the Tiger Moth and the Hornet Moth. The company also produced the DH.84 Dragon around this time, which was adapted by Aer Lingus as an airliner.

Photo: Maxi Perez | Shutterstock

de Havilland Aircraft Company saw continued success during World War II, as the company adapted to produce wooden aircraft like the Mosquito, a multirole combat aircraft, and the Hornet, a fighter aircraft.

The company looked to follow its success after the war ended by transitioning into the production of civilian aircraft. de Havilland Aircraft Company produced the de Havilland Comet in 1952 as the company’s first commercial jetliner.

However, the Comet did not see great success, as it saw three crashes in its early days, two of which were the result of airframe corrosion. By the time de Havilland fixed the issue, both the Boeing 707 and the

Douglas DC-8

were in production, rivaling the Comet.

The company was eventually purchased in 1960 by Hawker Siddeley, but it was kept as a separate company for several years. It was during this time that de Havilland began working on a smaller business, which was designated the DH.125 Jet Dragon.

This aircraft would undergo several redesigns and rebrands over the years as the development and manufacturing switched from company to company. Let’s take a closer look at the aircraft that would eventually be known as the Hawker 1000.

The story of the DH.125 Jet Dragon

As previously mentioned, de Havilland Aircraft Company first began designing a smaller business jet in the early 1960s after it fixed some major issues with its airliner, the de Havilland Comet.

This aircraft was also intended to replace the successful de Havilland Dove. The Dove was a piston-powered aircraft that found success in the business executive aircraft industry, so de Havilland intended to improve on the design by adding powerful jet engines.

de Havilland wanted to use jet engines, instead of turboprop engines like other aircraft at this time, to expand its range and top speed while still keeping the maintenance costs down.

The DH.125 Jet Dragon project officially began in 1961. Just a year later, the first prototype conducted its maiden flight in August.

In December 1962, the second prototype, which had significant aerodynamic upgrades, took off for the first time. In September 1964, the first aircraft was delivered to a customer, officially introducing the aircraft to the business jet industry.

The extended life of the business jet

de Havilland was purchased by Hawker Siddeley prior to the introduction of the aircraft, but it remained named the DH.125 Jet Dragon while it was in development.

However, when the aircraft entered full-time production, it was renamed the HS.125 for Hawker Siddeley. It was named the BH.125 for Beechcraft-Hawker when it was sold to customers in the United States.

Hawker Siddeley officially merged with the British Aircraft Corporation in 1977 to form the conglomerate British Aerospace. At this point, it was renamed again to the BAe 125. The aircraft was under continuous production during this time.

British Aerospace eventually sold its business jet division to Raytheon in 1993. The BAe 125 was then named the Hawker 1000, which was the main variant of the jet at the time.

By the late 1990s, most aircraft components were being manufactured in the United Kingdom, and the components were then shipped to Wichita, Kansas, for final assembly.

The Hawker 1000 was produced continuously until 2013. However, Hawker Beechcraft suffered the lasting effects of the 2008 Great Recession, and business jet orders declined. Up to this point, over 1,500 aircraft had been produced. Overall, the midsize business jet was produced by the following companies:

• de Havilland Aircraft Company
• Hawker Siddeley
• British Aerospace
• Raytheon
• Hawker Beechcraft

Design features of the Hawker business jet

The DH.125 was designed as a low-wing, twin-engine aircraft. The wing is slightly swept, similar to the de Havilland Comet, and is mounted under the fuselage as a single piece.

de Havilland also incorporated large flaps and airbrakes to help it operate well on short runways. The two engines were initially Bristol Siddeley Viper turbofan engines but have since been upgraded several times to Garrett TFE731 or Pratt & Whitney PW300, depending on the variant. Overall, the aircraft achieved the following performance specifications: