Hawker Hurricane

[David]

The Hawker Hurricane will forever be linked to the Battle of Britain - the war within a war that pitted the might of the Third Reich's aerial power against the will of the peoples of an island nation. Sometimes forgotten and overlooked in some circles, giving ground to it's fancier brethren - the Supermarine Spitfire - the Hawker Hurricane should be remembered as the true star of that engagement. The system proved a resilient and powerful weapon when pitted with the best that German air power had to offer, and without the Hurricane, the Battle of Britain could very well have been a losing effort for the people of the United Kingdom.
From the outset, Hurricanes replaced the aging Gloster Gauntlets in frontline operational service. Originally known as the Fury Monoplane for it's resemblance to another Hawker system, the Hurricane climbed into the record books with a night flight from Edinburgh to Northolt averaging 408 miles per hour. Early Hurricanes also retained a more primitive fabric-covered wings, which would later give way to stress-metal in future versions.
At the outset of the Battle of Britain, Hurricanes actually outnumbered Spitfires in operational service by 2 to 1 and would account for the first kill of that engagement when a Hurricane of the No.1 Squadron recorded an aerial victory against an advancing German Dornier Do.17 bomber. In the end of that engagement, the Hurricane would actually surpass any other British craft in terms of enemy kills - both on ground and in the air - surpassing even the much-loved Supermarine Spitfire.
At it's core, the Hawker Hurricane was a simply-constructed single-engine fighter, not capable of very high speeds by any regards, but a sound and basic design nonetheless. A single crewman piloted the system, which was robust enough to take off from hastily created and maintained runaways throughout the south of England in the summer of 1940. The Hurricane maintained an edge in its turning ability and could tag an enemy plane with up to eight .50 caliber heavy machine guns. The airframe was also highly respected in the Hurricane pilot circle in that it could withstand a great deal of punishment and keep her pilots alive and aloft. Visibility from the cockpit was also said to be quite an improvement over the Spitfire's design.
Various changes to the airframe allowed the system to replace the eight .50 caliber machine guns with four 20mm cannons in some models. Provisions for drop tanks, rockets and bombs would also come later in the evolution of the system, making the Hurricane a true multi-role fighter for it's day. Other anti-tank variants could be fitted with dual-40mm cannons as well, though these were mostly converted into their tropical roles for fighting in North Africa and elsewhere. An integral "universal" wing assembly also expanded the base Hurricane in that this reusable system could now be fitted with any combination of external stores and extra fuel available.
An array of variants existed, often coupling the base airframe with a myriad of improved powerplants from Rolls-Royce. As mentioned earlier, some models opted to replace the 8 x 12.7mm machine gun array with a more powerful quad-20mm cannon setup for devastating close-in effect. The aptly-named Sea Hurricane provided the Hurricane platform with the ability to operate at sea, often times being simply catapulted from traveling ships at sea to intercept enemy anti-ship aircraft. These systems would either have to find suitable airfields for landing or the pilot would simply eject from the aircraft and be picked up by a passing ship. Several Canadian companies took up production of indigenous Hurricanes and utilized them to good effect even in the post-war years.
In all, the uglier cousin of the Supermarine Spitfire proved to be the real star for a nation in search of a much-needed victory. The Hawker Hurricane came to symbolized the steel will and determination of a people at a time when it was needed most. The sheer number of variants produced from such a successful system can only testify as to the importance that this aircraft held for it's country of origin, maintaining a rightful place in the glorious history of ultimate dogfighters.
No true production records were ever kept of the Hurricane series of aircraft, leading to much estimation and speculation as to actual production totals.
Specifications for the Hawker Hurricane:

Designation: Hurricane Mk I
Manufacturer: Hawker
Powerplant: 1 x Rolls-Royce Merlin III 12-cylinder liquid engine generating 1,030hp
Length: 31.5 feet
Wing Span: 40 feet
Weight: 4,982lbs (empty); 6,447lbs (Maximum Take-Off Weight)
Maximum Speed: 318 mph
Maximum Range: 460 miles
Armament: 8 x .50 caliber (12.7mm) machine guns
Crew: 1
Base Hurricane Models:
F-36/34 - Prototype Model fitted with Merlin C 1,025hp engine of which one aircraft was produced;
Hurricane Mk I - Initial production model fitted with Merlin II or III powerplants;
Hurricane Mk IIA Series 1 - Merlin XX two-stage supercharged engine;
Hurricane Mk IIA Series 2 - Provisions for underwing stores;
Hurricane Mk IIB - 12 x Browning machine guns of which 3,100 produced;
Hurricane Mk IIC - 4 x 20mm cannons with bomb and drop-tank provisions;
Hurricane Mk IID - Tropical conversion model fitted with 2 x 40mm Vickers or Rolls-Royce anti-tank guns with 2 x 12.7mm machine guns;
Hurricane Mk IV - Merlin 24 or Merlin 27 powerplants with provision for rockets, tanks and bombs;
Hurricane Mk V - Prototype fitted with ground-boosted Merlin 32 and four-blade propeller of which 2 were produced.
Sea Hurricane Models:
Sea Hurricane Mk IA - Converted Hurricane I's for on-ship CAM-ship catapult systems;
Sea Hurricane Mk IB - Converted Hurricane IIA Series 2 for on-ship CAM-ship catapult systems with arrestor hook;
Sea Hurricane Mk IC - Based on the Sea Hurricane IB but with 4 x 20mm cannons;
Sea Hurricane Mk IIC - Full-standard naval conversion with arrestor hook, naval radio and other carrier-necessitated conversions.
Canadian Hurricanes:
Hurricane Mk I - Produced by Canada Car and Foundry Company and featured Merlin III with de Havilland propeller systems.
Hurricane Mk X
Hurricane Mk XI
Hurricane Mk XII
More Pictures of the Hawker Hurricane Fighter

Photo courtesy of the USAF Museum.