page_title: Hawker Hart
section_title: Demon
hierarchical_section_title: Hawker Hart / Variants / Demon
context_page_description: The Hawker Hart was a British two-seater biplane light bomber aircraft of the Royal Air Force. It was designed during the 1920s by Sydney Camm and manufactured by Hawker Aircraft. The Hart was a prominent British aircraft in the inter-war period, but was obsolete and already side-lined for newer monoplane aircraft designs by the start of the Second World War, playing only minor roles in the conflict before being retired.
  Several major variants of the Hart were developed, including a navalised version for the Royal Navy's aircraft carriers. Beyond Britain, the Hart would be operated by a number of foreign nations, including Sweden, Yugoslavia, Estonia, South Africa, and Canada.
context_section_description: The Hawker Demon was a fighter variant of the Hart light bomber. During air defence exercises the RAF's Siskins and Bulldogs were often unable to intercept the new Hart bombers, which were sometimes instructed to restrict their height and speed in order to give the fighters a chance, which prompted the development of a fighter variant of the Hart.
  While the Hawker Fury offered better performance, lower production volumes made it more expensive and therefore it remained available only in small numbers, so when a fighter version of the Hart was suggested, the Air Ministry selected the type as an interim fighter until higher-performance fighters could be bought in larger numbers. The new fighter variant added a second Vickers machine gun, while the coaming of the rear cockpit was angled to give a better field of fire, and a supercharged Kestrel IS engine was fitted. Evaluation of an initial batch of six aircraft, known as Hart Fighters by one flight of 23 Squadron during 1931 was successful, and larger orders followed for the fighter Hart, now known as the Hawker Demon. The Demon's first flight was on 10 February 1933.
  305 Hawker Demons were built, including 232 for the RAF. The Demon was powered by varying versions of the Kestrel engine. It had an armament of a single rear .303 in (7.7 mm) Lewis Gun with two fixed .303 in (7.7 mm) Vickers machine guns in the nose. Many were fitted with a hydraulically-powered turret in the rear gunner's position, which had been tested on the Hawker Hart. Demons were also sold to the Royal Australian Air Force. It saw only second-line operations during the Second World War.
  Production of the Demon was undertaken by Hawker and by Boulton Paul Aircraft at their Wolverhampton factory, where their last example of 106 to be completed was delivered to the RAF in December 1937.
  Hart Two-Seat Fighter
  Two-seat fighter version of the Hart for the RAF. Later redesignated as the Hart Fighter.
  Demon I
  Two-seat fighter aircraft for the RAF.
  Australian Demon I
  Two-seat fighter aircraft for the RAAF, similar to RAF version but fitted with a 600 hp (447 kW) Rolls Royce Kestrel V engine; 54 built (the first 18 delivered as general-purpose fighters in 1935 and an additional 36 for army co-operation duties delivered in 1936).
  Australian Demon II
  Two-seat training version for the RAAF, standard Demon fitted with dual controls and provision for target towing, 10 built
  Turret Demon
  Two-seat fighter version, fitted with a Frazer-Nash gun turret in the rear cockpit.
caption: Hawker Demons of No. 23 Squadron RAF
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