Hawker Siddeley HS 125

Updated: October 2026 – A midsize business jet with two engines at the rear rolls toward the runway, the wing looks almost straight, the horizontal stabilizer sits halfway up the tail fin: chances are you are looking at a member of the 125 family. Hardly any other executive jet has carried so many names – DH.125, HS 125, BAe 125, Hawker 800, Hawker 900XP. This page sorts out the generations, shows you the identification features and tells you where you can still catch these jets today.

What is the HS 125?

The HS 125 is a twinjet executive aircraft of British origin. Work began in 1961 at de Havilland in Hatfield, then under the project name DH.125 Jet Dragon. The jet was meant to replace the twin-engine de Havilland DH.104 Dove, which had been widely used as a light transport and feeder aircraft until then. Because de Havilland was being absorbed into the Hawker Siddeley group at the time, the DH.125 became the HS.125 as early as series production.

Technically the team relied on proven ideas: the slightly swept wing is derived from the basic shape of the de Havilland Comet, is built as a single piece and is only fitted under the fuselage late in assembly. Large slotted flaps and air brakes were meant to allow takeoffs and landings at short airfields; the jet was even designed for paved grass runways. The two engines sit on the sides of the rear fuselage, which keeps the cabin quiet and the wing free of nacelles.

The first prototype flew on August 13, 1962, and the first delivery followed on September 10, 1964. A career began that only ended in 2013 – across several owners, two continents and a good half dozen type designations. In total, more than 1,600 aircraft were built.

From de Havilland to Hawker Beechcraft: the names at a glance

If you search registry data or old photos, you will run into many designations. The same basic design is behind all of them; what changed was mainly the owners and the marketing.

Period	Manufacturer	Common designation
from 1961	de Havilland	DH.125 Jet Dragon
1960s to 1977	Hawker Siddeley	HS.125 (in the US at times DH.125, later BH.125)
1977 to 1993	British Aerospace	BAe 125
1993 to 2007	Raytheon	Hawker 800, Hawker 1000, later 800XP and 850XP
2007 to 2013	Hawker Beechcraft	Hawker 750, 850XP, 900XP

The abbreviation BH.125 stood for the cooperation with Beechcraft on sales in North America. In 1977 Hawker Siddeley was merged into British Aerospace, and the HS 125 became the BAe 125. You can find the successor company today under BAE Systems. In 1993 British Aerospace sold the business jet division to Raytheon, and the current models were from then on called Hawker 800 and Hawker 1000. From 1996 the sections built in Great Britain went to Wichita in Kansas for final assembly; before that, Broughton near Chester had been the final assembly site.

In 2007 the Raytheon division became Hawker Beechcraft. After its bankruptcy in 2012, the restructured Beechcraft Corporation ended jet production, but the type certificate stayed with it. Beechcraft is now part of Textron Aviation.

The series in detail

The 125 was developed in many steps. For spotters, the most important one is the jump from the Viper turbojets to the turbofans of the Series 700 – it separates the ICAO codes H25A and H25B.

Series 1 to 3: the pioneers

The first series flew with Viper turbojets. Ten aircraft were built of the Series 1, 62 of the Series 1A, adapted for US certification, and 13 of the Series 1B. The Series 1A and 1B had five instead of six cabin windows per side. The Series 2 went to the Royal Air Force as the Dominie T.1, which used 20 aircraft from 1965 as navigation trainers. The Series 3 brought more powerful Viper 522 engines and higher weights.

Series 400 and 600: more comfort, more length

The Series 400 introduced an outward-opening door with an integrated stair in place of the previous folding door. The Series 600 was stretched by just under a meter and received even more powerful Viper engines. It is the last version with the loud turbojets; its key data: 15.39 m length, 14.33 m wingspan, 11.34 t maximum takeoff weight, room for up to ten passengers.

Series 700: the switch to turbofans

On June 19, 1976, the Series 700 flew for the first time – with Garrett TFE731 turbofans (now Honeywell). The new engines made the jet more economical, quieter and longer-ranged. Some older aircraft were later retrofitted with TFE731s and operate as the F3B, F400 or F600.

Series 800 and the Hawker models

The Series 800 first flew in 1983. It got a larger wing and is considered the first business jet with an EFIS cockpit, meaning screen displays instead of classic round gauges. Under Raytheon and Hawker Beechcraft it led to the most successful line of the family:

• Hawker 800XP with TFE731-5BR engines – details on the dedicated page for the Hawker 800XP
• Hawker 850XP with factory-fitted winglets and a revised cabin, certified in 2006
• Hawker 900XP with TFE731-50R for better performance in heat and at altitude as well as more range
• Hawker 750 as a lighter variant with a heated baggage compartment in place of the rear auxiliary tank under the fuselage

Series 1000: the stretched long version

The BAe 125-1000 first flew on June 16, 1990. It is about 80 centimeters longer than the Series 800 and uses Pratt & Whitney Canada PW305 engines. With only 52 built, it is the rarest main version – and has its own ICAO code, H25C.

Generation	ICAO code	Engine	Identification in the field
Series 1 to 600	H25A	Viper (turbojet)	slim nacelles, very loud
Series 700 / 800, Hawker 750–900XP	H25B	TFE731 (turbofan)	thicker nacelles, winglets on 850XP/900XP
Series 1000 / Hawker 1000	H25C	PW305 (turbofan)	stretched fuselage

The three features that are enough to identify it

There are many business jets with rear-mounted engines. These three observations narrow it down to the 125 family reliably.

Finally, the registration settles the exact version. Many aircraft have spent their lives under changing registrations; how to find out the history and year of manufacture is covered in the post How to find out an aircraft’s age. For British aircraft with G registrations, the guide to British G registrations helps.

HS 125, Falcon 20 or Learjet?

Mix-ups happen mainly with other business jets from the 1960s and 1970s. The finder helps narrow it down.

For more modern jets, the overview Telling business jet types apart helps, comparing Gulfstream, Global, Falcon, Citation and Challenger. Compared with the Bombardier Challenger 604, the Hawker looks smaller and slimmer, and the Challenger has a T-tail.

Military and special missions

Besides companies and charter operators, armed forces and government agencies have also used the jet:

• Royal Air Force: The Dominie T.1 trained navigators and was retired in 2011. More 125s flew as liaison aircraft, among others as the HS.125 CC1, CC2 and BAe 125 CC3; they left RAF service in 2015.
• USA: The US Air Force designated a variant for surveying navigation aids the C-29A.
• Japan: The Air Self-Defense Force used the U-125 for flight inspection and the U-125A for search and rescue.
• Brazil: The air force flew the type under designations such as EC-93 and VC-93.

The military examples in particular are rarities for spotters. Some early British aircraft are preserved in museums today. If you are interested in the Hatfield origins, the de Havilland Aircraft Museum tells the story of the manufacturer; whether a 125 is currently on display there, you are best off checking with the museum beforehand.

Where you find the 125 family today

As of October 2026, most of the remaining active fleet is in service with charter operators, companies and private owners, mainly the Hawker 800XP, 850XP and 900XP. The early Viper jets, on the other hand, have become rare. There are no scheduled routes – you have to look where business travelers land.

Place	Chance of a hit	Why
Geneva	medium to high	Heavy business jet traffic, especially during trade shows and conferences
Paris-Le Bourget	medium to high	One of Europe’s most important business airports
Nice	medium, seasonal	Lots of private traffic in summer and during major events
London-Luton	medium	Large business jet handling alongside scheduled traffic
Salzburg, Zurich	low to medium	Seasonal peaks, such as in the winter season

On the observation deck at Geneva Airport you have good chances, and the Geneva plane spotting guide tells you the best times. In Austria, the Salzburg observation deck is worth a visit during peak winter sports traffic. General tips on hot spots and seasonal peaks are in the post Spotting business jets. How to find individual aircraft live is explained in Tracking an aircraft by registration.

Photo tips for the 125

At around 15 to 16 meters in length, the 125 is much smaller than an airliner. That affects your setup.

You can work out when the light suits your spot with the guide Planning the sun position for your photo spot. If you are more interested in the small ones, the post Spotting general aviation has useful tips; for old types in general, Recognizing historic aircraft helps.

Common mix-ups and how to rule them out

Conclusion

The HS 125 is a piece of British aviation history that lived on for decades. From the DH.125 Jet Dragon from Hatfield, through the BAe 125 from Broughton, to the Hawker 900XP from Wichita, the basic design stayed recognizable: rear engines, slightly swept wing, horizontal stabilizer at mid-height. For spotters the family is doubly appealing – the late Hawkers as regular visitors at business jet airports, the early Viper jets and military versions as true rarities.