J. L. Park, e-mail, 19.05.2026 13:52 The sole Hawker P1081 was destroyed in a crash, killing Hawker's chief test pilot, 'Wimpy' Wade. I have never been able to find any details of the accident, and would be very interested to know what went wrong. Neville Duke took Wade's place and, in September 1953, set a World Airspeed Record of 727 mph in WB188, the third prototype of the P1067 Hunter, as described by Mr. Simpson (except that the sound barrier was not broken in the process). A few days later, at the Farnborough Air Display, the P1067 did break the sound barrier in a dive, before making a barely-subsonic pass along the Farnborough runway at very low altitude. I witnessed this as an eight-year-old boy, and it remains on of the most vivid memories of my childhood.

Billy Pryce, e-mail, 27.07.2011 16:15 I find the over protracted development that finally led to the Hunter a bit sad in retrospect. The P1052 being used to investigate the low speed characteristics of swept wings when the F86 and MiG 15 were already in service strikes me as being a bit lethargic. Wasn't data already available from German research and the reciprocal technology agreements with the US? Why not just build a swept wing fighter and call it the Hunter? Reading James Hamilton-Paterson's 'Empire of the Clouds' just now so I'm currently obsessed.

John Mitchell, 10.08.2010 18:30 The plane mentioned by Mr. Simpson was not a P1081, it was it's successor the P1067 Hunter. The plane, WB188, broke the world airspeed record off the South coast where Mr. Simpson saw it. I think that it was in 1953, I was a Hawker apprentice at the time and remember it well. The next time that I saw WB188, was during my National Service when I was posted to RAF Melksham in 1957 to find it serving as the "Gate Guardian". I felt very sad about that. Mr Simpson was correct about the pilot, Neville Duke.

Sven, 15.12.2009 08:05 The pilot would be Neville Duke. The aircraft probably a Hunter.

c. Simpson, e-mail, 14.12.2009 14:21 If I remember correctly as a young child I saw this plane break the sound barrier on the south coast of England off the town of Worthing. The aircraft flew a triangular course out to the mid channel and then flew west along the beach. The result was a number of broken windows in the hotels along the promenade. The pilot made several passes and I believe the pilots name was Neville _____? Having grown up around airfields and hearing planes coming and going it was unusual to see this plane coming with no sound until it was on you. I also remember that the pilot was very low and close to the beach.