Hawker Hurricane- single seat fighter

Until well into 1941 the Hurricane was by far the most numerous of the RAF's combat aircraft and it bore the brunt of all the early combats with the Luftwaffe over France and Britain. Designed by Camm as a Fury Monoplane, with Goshawk engine and spatted landing gear, it was altered on the drawing board to have the more powerful PV.12 (Merlin) engine and inwards-retracting landing gear and later, to have not four machine guns but the unprecedented total of eight. The Air Ministry wrote Specification F.36/34 around it and after tests with the prototype ordered the then-fantastic total of 600 in June 1936. In September 1939 the 497 delivered equipped 18 squadrons and by 7 August 1940 no fewer than 2,309 had been delivered, compared with 1,383 Spitfires, equipping 32 squadrons, compared with 18.5 Spitfire squadrons.
By this time the Hurricane I was in service with new metal-skinned wings, instead of fabric, and a three-blade variable-pitch (later constant-speed) propeller instaed of the wooden Watts two-blader. In the hectic days of 1940 the Hurricane was found to be an ideal bomber destroyer, with steady sighting and devastating cone of fire; turn radius was better than that of any other monoplane fighter, but the all-round performance of the Bf 109E was considerably higher. The more powerful Mk II replaced the 1,030 hp Merlin II with the 1,280 hp Merlin XX and introduced new armament and drop tanks. In north-west Europe it became a ground-attack aircraft, and in North Africa a tank-buster with 40mm guns. While operating from merchant-ship catapaults and carriers it took part in countless fleet-defence actions, the greatest being the defence of the August 1942 Malta convoy, when 70 Sea Hurricanes fought off more than 600 Axis attackers, destroying 39 for the loss of seven fighters.
The Hurricane was increasingly transferred to the Far East, Africa and other theatres, and 2,952 were dispatched to the Soviet Union, some equipped with skis instead of landing wheels. Hurricanes were used for many special trials of armament and novel flight techniques (one having a jettisonable biplane upper wing). Total production amounted to 12,780 in Britain and 1,451 in Canada and many hundreds were exported both before and after World War II.

Full Name:	Hawker Hurricane (MkI to MkXII); Sea Hurricane (MkIA to MkXIIA)
Variants:	Hurricane I to XII, Sea Hurricane IA to XIIA
Type:	Single-seat fighter; later: fighter-bomber, tank buster and ship-based fighter
Country of Origin:	United Kingdom
Manufacturer:	Hawker Aircraft Limited
First Flight:	(Prototype) November 6, 1935
Engine:	One Rolls-Royce Merlin V-12 liquid-cooled
Wingspan:	40 feet 0 inches (12.19 m)
Length:	32 feet 0 inches (9.75 m); (MkI : 31 feet 5 inches); (Sea Hurricanes - 32 feet 3 inches)
Height:	13 feet 1 inches (4.0 m)
Weights:	Empty: (I) 4,670 lb (2,118 kg); (IIA) 5,150 lb (2,335 kg); (IIC) 5,640 lb (2,558 kg); (IID) 5,800 lb (2,631 kg); (IV) 5,550 lb (2,515 kg); (Sea H. IIC) 5,788 lb (2,625 kg) Loaded: (I) 6,600 lb (2,994 kg); (IIA) 8,050 lb (3,650 kg); (IIC) 8,250 lb (3,742 kg); (IID) 8,200 lb (3,719 kg); (IV) 8,450 lb (3,832 kg); (Sea H. IIC) 8,100 (3,674 kg)
Maximum Speed:	(I) 318 mph (511 km/h); (IIA,B,C) 335-345 mph (540-560 km/h); (IID) 286 mph (460 km/h); (IV) 330 mph (531 km/h); (Sea H. IIC) 342 mph (550 km/h)
Initial Climb:	(I) 2,520 ft (770 m) /min; (IIA) 3,150 ft (960 m) /min
Service Ceiling:	(I) 36,000 ft (10,973 m); (IIA) 41,000 ft (12,500 m); (rest, typical) 34,000 ft (10,365 m)
Range:	(All, typical) 460 miles (740 km), or with two 44 Imp gal drop tanks 950 miles (1,530 km)
Armament:	(I) 8 x 0.303 Brownings, each with 333 rounds; (IIA) same, with provision for 12 guns and two 250 lb bombs; (IIB) 12 x 0.303 Brownings and two 250 or 500 lb bombs; (IIC) 4 x 20mm Hispano cannon and bombs; (IID) 2 x 40mm Vickers S guns and 2 x 0.303 Brownings; (IV) universal wing with 2 x Brownings and 2 x Vickers S, two 500 lb bombs, eight rockets, smoke installation or other stores

AIRCRAFT SPECIFICATIONS

AIRCRAFT HISTORY