P.1052 VX272 at Yeovilton, 23rd September 2002; author	F.2 WF225 at RNAS Culdrose, May 2001; Garry Lakin

First survivor in the list isn't actually a Sea Hawk at all - it's a Hawker P.1052, which was a swept-wing development of the Sea Hawk. However it has more in common with the Sea Hawk (the entire fuselage!) than the aircraft it eventually developed into (the Hunter), so that's why it's listed here in the Sea Hawk section. After trials use the aircraft became a maintenance and ground instructional airframe and thankfully survived these duties more or less intact before its value was recognised and the FAA Museum acquired it. Held in storage ever since, hopefully it will in due course be restored and placed on display.

Two Mark Twos to start with! Above is a most appropriate gate guard - a Sea Hawk for HMS Sea Hawk, the naval establishment at RNAS Culdrose near Helston in Cornwall. WF225 is in good cosmetic condition, having been repainted in the late 1990s. The canopy has been painted silver to give some measure of protection to the cockpit interior - and no doubt hide any sins!

F.2 WF259 at East Fortune in May 1997; author	FB.3 WM913 at the Newark Air Museum, 6th February 2006; author

This is WF259, another F.2, this time at the opposite end of the country, at the National Museum of Flight at East Fortune in Scotland. WF259 served with 736 NAS, Lossiemouth Station Flight and as an instructional airframe before coming to rest at the museum. Part of a lineup of naval aircraft in the Jet Age hangar, she, like many of the museum's aircraft, is in superb condition. As you can see, the wings are folded to save space, something many museums do with their Sea Hawks.

Parked next to a Sea Venom, the Newark Air Museum's Sea Hawk is an Armstrong Whitworth-built example and had a varied service life before being retired to the School of Aircraft Handling at RNAS Culdrose. Moving on from there to become the gate guard at RNAS Sealand, with the handing over of that base to the RAF, WM913 was loaned to the Sea Cadets and then finally loaned to the museum. WM913 looks to be in excellent condition. Information current as of 06/02/2006.

FB.3 WN105 at Birlingham, 31st October 1998; author	FB.3 WN108 at Langford Lodge; Pete McMasters, Ulster Aviation Society

Part of a private collection of jets tucked away in sleepy Birlingham is this attractive Sea Hawk. In generally good condition, there is some corrosion on the undercarriage and the canopy perspex is beginning to craze, but overall in surprisingly good condition for an aircraft that has been out in the open air for some years.

Now popping across the Irish Sea for a moment we find an FB.3; WN108 at the Ulster Aviation Society's base at Langford Lodge airfield. Sea Hawks regularly operated from Sydenham airfield in Northern Ireland so it's nice to see one preserved over there. The apparent blue paint scheme is a trick of the camer and scanner - it's actually black.

FB.5 131 at Soesterberg, 1st September 1996; Paul Nann	FB.5 WM961 at Caernarfon, 19th August 2001; author

Now, leaping the North Sea in a single bound as if we were wearing our underpants outside our trousers, we come to the Netherlands, and the museum at Soesterberg, which has this beautifully preserved Sea Hawk. The MLD used a number of Sea Hawks and at least two are preserved in the Netherlands.

WM961 is in pretty good nick, but the cockpit is pretty gutted. She served with 811 and 802 NAS and then moved on to FRADU's forerunner - FRU, before being retired and used as an instructional airframe at the School of Aircraft Handling at RNAS Culdrose. One of the handful of remaining Mk.5s, she's happily displayed undercover at Caernarfon, in Suez markings. The cockpit is apparently now being worked on to try and restore it to its former glory. Information current as of 01/04/2005.

FB.5 WM969 at IWM Duxford, 1st May 1999; author	FB.5 WM994 at rest in the desert; Courtesy Aircraft Sales

The Imperial War Museum at Duxford have another pristine Sea Hawk - FB.5 WM969. Served with 898, 811 and 806 NAS before transfer to second line duties with the Fleet Requirements Unit (FRU, later FRADU). Retired to instructional airframe duties at Culdrose before preservation at Duxford. Also saving space by having the wings folded, this one has the older paint scheme of extra dark sea grey with sky undersides (instead of white as with WF259 above).

Up for sale - a snip at $25,000 - is WM994, of which I know absolutely nothing more... Information current as of 26/02/2004.