The Hunter was one of the most successful of the British postwar fighters, and is remembered as a delightful, capable airplane in every respect. The prototype was first flown on 20 July 1951, and the single-seat Hunter F1 entered service with the Royal Air Force in July 1954. A two-seat variant, the Hunter T7, entered service in 1958. Deliveries of the Hunter continued until 1966, and during its life, the airplane was continually modified and improved, resulting in more than 25 variants, including export versions for 22 foreign nations. All versions were supersonic, and most of the later variants featured increases in armament, power and fuel quantity.
Major variants included the F4, with the Avon Mk 115 engine and an increased fuel capacity; the F5, fitted with a Sapphire Mk 101 engine; the F6 with the Avon Mk 203 engine and increased fuel capacity; the T8 which was a Two-seat Navy version; the FR10 RAF reconnaissance version; the GA11 Royal Navy single-seat attack version; and the FGA9 version with greater weapons capacity, increased thrust and a strengthened fuselage for its ground-attack role.
Until just a few years ago, almost a fifth of all Hawker Hunters built were still in service , mainly with the Swiss Air Force, the RAF and the Royal Navy, but as of 1998, only Zimbabwe's Hawker Hunters are still in front-line service. At least 30 are still airworthy in private hands.
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