Hawker Hurricane

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawker_Hurricane

The Hawker Hurricane is a British single-seat fighter aircraft of the
1930s–1940s that was designed and predominantly built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd.
for service with the Royal Air Force (RAF). Although overshadowed in the public
consciousness by the Supermarine Spitfire's role during Battle of Britain in
1940, the Hurricane actually inflicted 60 percent of the losses sustained by the
Luftwaffe in the engagement. The Hurricane went on to fight in all the major
theatres of Second World War.

The Hurricane originated from discussions during the early 1930s between RAF
officials and British aircraft designer Sir Sydney Camm on the topic of a
proposed monoplane derivative of the Hawker Fury biplane. Despite an
institutional preference at the time for biplanes and repeated lack of interest
by the Air Ministry, Hawker chose to continue refining their monoplane proposal,
which resulted in the incorporation of several innovations that would become
critical to wartime fighter aircraft, including retractable undercarriage and a
more powerful engine in the form of the newly developed Rolls-Royce Merlin
engine. In late 1934, the Air Ministry placed an order for Hawker's "Interceptor
Monoplane". On 6 November 1935, the prototype Hurricane, K5083, performed its
maiden flight.

In June 1936, the Hurricane was ordered into production by the Air Ministry; it
entered squadron service on 25 December 1937. The manufacture and maintenance of
the aircraft was eased by its use of conventional construction methods, which
enabled squadrons to perform many major repairs themselves without external
support. The Hurricane was rapidly procured prior to the outbreak of the Second
World War in September 1939, when the RAF had 18 Hurricane-equipped squadrons in
service. The aircraft was relied upon to defend against the numerous and varied
German aircraft operated by the Luftwaffe, including dogfighting with the
capable Messerschmitt Bf 109, across multiple theatres of action.

The Hurricane evolved through several versions and adaptations, as
bomber-interceptors, fighter-bombers and ground support aircraft in addition to
fighters. Further navalised versions, which were popularly known as the Sea
Hurricane, had modifications enabling their operation from ships. Some were
converted to be used as catapult-launched convoy escorts. By the end of
production in July 1944, 14,487 Hurricanes had been completed in Britain and
Canada.

The prototype and early production Hurricanes were fitted with a Watts
two-bladed fixed-pitch wooden propeller. Flight commented of this arrangement:
"Many have expressed surprise that the Hurricane is not fitted with
variable-pitch airscrews". The original two-bladed propeller was found to be
inefficient at low airspeeds and the aircraft required a long ground run to get
airborne, which caused concern at Fighter Command. Accordingly, trials with a De
Havilland variable-pitch propeller demonstrated a reduction in the Hurricane's
take-off run from 1,230 to 750 ft (370 to 230 m). Deliveries of these began in
April 1939: this was later replaced by the hydraulically operated constant-speed
Rotol propeller, which came into service in time for the Battle of Britain.

Camm's priority was to provide the pilot with good all-round visibility. To this
end, the cockpit was mounted reasonably high in the fuselage, creating a
distinctive "hump-backed" silhouette. Pilot access to the cockpit was aided by a
retractable "stirrup" mounted below the trailing edge of the port wing. This was
linked to a spring-loaded hinged flap which covered a handhold on the fuselage,
just behind the cockpit. When the flap was shut, the footstep retracted into the
fuselage. In addition, both wing roots were coated with strips of non-slip
material.

An advantage of the steel-tube structure was that cannon shells could pass right
through the wood and fabric covering without exploding. Even if one of the steel
tubes were damaged, the repair work required was relatively simple and could be
done by ground crew at the airfield. Damage to a stressed skin structure, as
used by the Spitfire, required more specialised equipment to repair. The
old-fashioned structure also permitted the assembly of Hurricanes with
relatively basic equipment under field conditions. Crated Hurricanes were
assembled at Takoradi in West Africa and flown across the Sahara to the Middle
East theatre and, to save space, some Royal Navy aircraft carriers carried their
reserve Sea Hurricanes dismantled into their major assemblies, which were slung
up on the hangar bulkheads and deckhead for reassembly when needed.


Role
Fighter

National origin
United Kingdom

Manufacturer
Hawker Aircraft

Designer
Sydney Camm

First flight
6 November 1935

Introduction
25 December 1937

Primary users
Royal Air Force
Royal Canadian Air Force

Produced
1937–1944

Number built
14,583

Variants
Hawker Hurricane variants

Following the Battle of Britain the Hurricane continued to give service; through
the Blitz of 1941 it was the principal single-seat night fighter in Fighter
Command. F/Lt. Richard Stevens claimed 14 Luftwaffe bombers flying Hurricanes in
1941. In 1942 the cannon-armed Mk IIc performed further afield, as a night
intruder over occupied Europe. F/Lt. Karel Kuttelwascher of 1 Squadron proved
the top scorer, with 15 Luftwaffe bombers claimed shot down.

1942 also saw the manufacture of twelve Hurricane II C(NF) night fighters,
equipped with pilot-operated Air Interception Mark VI radar. After a brief
operational deployment with No. 245 and No. 247 Squadron RAF during which these
aircraft proved too slow for operations in Europe, the aircraft were sent to
India to serve with No. 176 Squadron RAF in the defence of Calcutta. They were
withdrawn from service at the end of December 1943.

The Sea Hurricane became operational in mid-1941 and scored its first kill while
operating from HMS Furious on 31 July 1941. During the next three years, Fleet
Air Arm Sea Hurricanes were to feature prominently while operating from Royal
Navy aircraft carriers. The Sea Hurricane scored an impressive kill-to-loss
ratio, primarily while defending Malta convoys, and operating from escort
carriers in the Atlantic Ocean. As an example, on 26 May 1944, Royal Navy Sea
Hurricanes operating from the escort carrier HMS Nairana claimed the destruction
of three Ju 290 reconnaissance aircraft during the defence of a convoy.

Specifications (Hurricane Mk.IIC)

General characteristics
Crew: 1
Length: 32 ft 3 in (9.84 m)
Wingspan: 40 ft 0 in (12.19 m)
Height: 13 ft 1½ in (4.0 m)
Wing area: 257.5 ft² (23.92 m²)
Empty weight: 5,745 lb (2,605 kg)
Loaded weight: 7,670 lb (3,480 kg)
Max. takeoff weight: 8,710 lb (3,950 kg)
Powerplant: 1 × Rolls-Royce Merlin XX liquid-cooled V-12, 1,185 hp (883 kW) at
21,000 ft (6,400 m)

Performance
Maximum speed: 340 mph (547 km/h) at 21,000 ft (6,400 m)
Range: 600 mi (965 km)
Service ceiling: 36,000 ft (10,970 m)
Rate of climb: 2,780 ft/min (14.1 m/s)
Wing loading: 29.8 lb/ft² (121.9 kg/m²)
Power/mass: 0.15 hp/lb (0.25 kW/kg)

Armament

Guns: 4 × 20 mm (.79 in) Hispano Mk II cannon
Bombs: 2 × 250 or 500 lb (110 or 230 kg) bombs




*