Hawker Fury

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

The Hawker Fury was a British biplane fighter aircraft used by the Royal Air
Force in the 1930s. It was a fast, agile aircraft, and was the first interceptor
in RAF service capable of speed higher than 200 mph. It was the fighter
counterpart to the Hawker Hart light bomber.

The Hawker Fury was a development of the earlier Hawker F.20/27 prototype
fighter, replacing the radial engine of the F.20/27 with the new Rolls-Royce
F.XI V-12 engine (later known as the Rolls-Royce Kestrel), which was also used
by Hawker's new light bomber, the Hawker Hart. The new fighter prototype, known
as the Hawker Hornet, first flew at Brooklands, Surrey, in March 1929. The
Hornet was a single-engined biplane, with single bay wings, initially powered by
a 420 hp (313 kW) Rolls-Royce F.XIC engine enclosed by a smooth, streamlined
cowling but was quickly re-engined with a 480 hp (358 kW) Kestrel IS. The
prototype was evaluated against the similarly powered Fairey Firefly II, being
preferred because of its better handling and its all metal structure, compared
with the mainly wooden construction of the Firefly.

The Fury was the first operational RAF fighter aircraft to be able to exceed 200
mph (322 km/h) in level flight. It had highly sensitive controls which gave it
superb aerobatic performance. It was designed partly for the fast interception
of bombers and to that end it had a climb rate of almost 2,400 ft/min (730
m/min, powered by a 525 hp/391 kW Kestrel engine).


Role
Fighter

Manufacturer
Hawker Aircraft

First flight
25 March 1931

Introduction
1931

Retired
1949 Iranian Air Force

Primary users
Royal Air Force

South African Air Force
Spanish Air Force
Royal Yugoslav Air Force


Number built
275

The Fury I entered squadron service with the RAF in May 1931, re-equipping No.
43 Squadron. Owing to finance cuts in the Great Depression, only relatively
small numbers of Fury Is were ordered, the type equipping No. 1 and 25
squadrons. At the same time, the slower Bristol Bulldog equipped ten fighter
squadrons. The Fury II entered service in 1936–1937, increasing total number of
squadrons to six. Furies remained with RAF Fighter Command until January 1939,
replaced primarily with Gloster Gladiators and other types, such as Hawker
Hurricane. After their front line service ended, they continued in use as
trainers.

The Fury was exported to several customers, being supplied with a variety of
engines, including Kestrels, Hispano Suiza and Lorraine Petrel vee-type engines,
Armstrong Siddeley Panther, Pratt & Whitney Hornet and Bristol Mercury radials.

Although withdrawn from RAF squadrons, the Fury was still used by some foreign
air forces in the early 1940s; Yugoslav Furies saw action against Axis forces in
the German invasion of 1941. On 6 April 1941, a squadron of Furies took off
against the invading German Messerschmitt Bf 109Es and Messerschmitt Bf 110s. In
the resulting air battle 10 Furies were destroyed, almost the entire squadron.
The commanding officer of the 36 LG was Major Franjo Džal, who watched from the
ground as his men were slaughtered in their obsolete biplanes. In an unequal
battle against superior adversaries, five aircraft were destroyed while taking
off and eight pilots killed. Two more Furies and Bücker Bü 131 were destroyed on
the ground. Of the attacking German aircraft, five Bf-109s and two Bf-110s
failed to return, though most were non-combat losses, at least one was lost when
rammed by a Fury. The other squadron of Yugoslav Furies active at the time of
the invasion strafed enemy tanks and ground forces, some being lost to ground
fire and one being destroyed in a dogfight with a Fiat CR.42. The rest of the
Yugoslav Furies were destroyed when they became unserviceable or at the time of
Armistice on 15 April. Ex-RAF Furies were also used by the South African Air
Force against the Italian forces in East Africa in 1941 and despite their
obsolescence, destroyed two Caproni bombers as well as strafing many airfields,
destroying fighters and bombers on the ground.

A total of 262 Furies were produced, of which 22 served in Persia, 3 in
Portugal, at least 30 in South Africa, 3 in Spain, at least 30 in Yugoslavia and
the remainder in the United Kingdom.

Specifications (Hawker Fury Mk II)

General characteristics
Crew: One
Length: 26 ft 9 in (8.15 m)
Wingspan: 30 ft 0 in (9.14 m)
Height: 10 ft 2 in (3.10 m)
Wing area: 250 ft² (23.2 m²)
Empty weight: 2,734 lb (1,240 kg)
Loaded weight: 3,609 lb (1,637 kg)
Powerplant: 1 × Rolls-Royce Kestrel IV V12 engine, 640 hp (477 kW)

Performance
Maximum speed: 223 mph at 16,500 ft (360 km/h at 5,030 m)
Range: 270 mi (435 km)
Service ceiling: 29,500 ft (8,990 m)
Rate of climb: 2,600 ft/min (13.2 m/s)
Wing loading: 14.4 lb/ft² (21.5 kg/m²)
Power/mass: 0.177 hp/lb (0.291kW/kg)

Armament

Guns: 2 × 0.303 in (7.7 mm) Vickers Mk IV machine guns with 600 rpg




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