The Hawker Hurricane was a British fighter aircraft used by the Royal Air Force during World War II. Along with the Supermarine Spitfire, it played an important role in the Battle of Britain in 1940, engaging the faster Messerschmitt Bf 109 in dogfights. Although it was a reliable and maneuverable aircraft, by 1941 it had already been outperformed by this German fighter as well as by the Focke-Wulf Fw-190. However, the Hurricane would remain in service until 1946 as a fighter-bomber and night interceptor. The Soviet Union would acquire 2,776 Hurricanes during the war.
The prototype of this aircraft first flew on November 6, 1935. It was flown by Chief test pilot George Bulman. It was powered by a Rolls Royce Merlin C, which was a 12-cylinder piston engine, which delivered 1,029 horsepower. The first production aircraft would be the Hurricane Mk I, which entered service with the RAF on May 23, 1937. It was fitted with one 1,100-HP, Rolls Royce Merlin II engine. The most massively produced versions were the Mk I, Mk II, Mk IIC, and Mk IV. Hawker produced a total of 14,530 Hurricane combat planes. The original covering for the Hurricane surfaces was fabric. However, it would soon be changed to metal skin, except for the aft portion, which would continue to be covered by hardened canvas.
Technical Description
The Hawker Hurricane was a single-seat, single-engine monoplane. It featured cantilever low wing, with its trailing edge tapering towards the tip, which was rounded. The airframe was made of steel tubes, while the fuselage fore portion was all-metal, with its rear part being fabric-covered. The landing gear was retractable, folding up inwardly into the ventral fuselage. The Mk-IIC version was powered by a Rolls Royce Merlin XX, liquid-cooled, V12 piston engine, which generated 1,280 horsepower.
Specifications (Mk IIC)
Type: fighter aircraft/night interceptor/ground-attack
Length: 9.75 m (32 feet)
Wing Span: 12.19 m (40 feet)
Wing Area: 23.92 m2 (257 square feet)
Height: 3.99 m (13 feet, 1 inch)
Power Plant: one 1,280-HP, Rolls Royce Merlin XX piston engine.
Maximum Speed: 541 km/h (335 mph)
Range: 740 km (460 miles)
Service Ceiling: 10,850 m (35,600 feet)
Crew: one
Armament: four 20-mm Hispano cannons; two 113-kg (250-lb) bombs.
Below, photo of the first prototype K5083 in flight in late 1935.
A Hurricane Mk I, Z4641, flying over the desert of North Africa.
Below, a Mk IIC variant on a pre-delivery flight over the English countryside.
Three Hurricanes on a RAF´s airbase in England during the Battle of Britain.
Below, a Mk IV variant in England in 1944.
