Miles Hawk Major

Hawk Major
Miles M.2H Hawk Major at White Waltham Airfield, near Maidenhead Berkshire, in June 1953
Role	Two-seat touring and racing monoplane
Manufacturer	Miles Aircraft Limited
Designer	Frederick George Miles
First flight	1934
Primary user	Royal Air Force
Number built	64
Developed from	Miles Hawk

The Miles Hawk Major was a 1930s British two-seat light monoplane designed by Miles Aircraft Limited.

The Hawk Major was designed as a successor to the Miles Hawk by F.G. Miles. Main changes were a de Havilland Gipsy III engine, metal (instead of wood) engine mount, and trousered undercarriage. The prototype (designated M.2F Hawk Major) was first flown in 1934 and went on to second place in the 1934 King's Cup Race at an average speed of 147.78 mph. A racing version was developed as the one-off single-seat M.2E Gipsy Six Hawk with a 200 hp de Havilland Gipsy Six engine. The production Hawk Major had the 130 hp de Havilland Gipsy Major engine. The aircraft sold well to private owners, including two that were fitted with smoke generators to allow them to be used as skywriters. An improved version (the M.2H) with a trailing edge flap replaced the M.2F on the production line. A number of special one-off racing versions were also built. In October 1934, Squadron Leader Malcolm Charles McGregor flew a Hawk Major from RAF Mildenhall to Melbourne, Australia in 7 days, 15 hours while competing in the MacRobertson Air Race. In 1936 Miles Hawk VI, G-ADOD was entered into the Schlesinger Race from Portsmouth to Johannesburg and flown by A. E. Clouston who nearly made it all the way to Johannesburg but had to make a forced crash landing due to engine trouble 150 miles south of Salisbury.

In 1935, an improved version for training use was developed as the Miles Hawk Trainer.

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