Hawker Hurricane

About Hawker Hurricane – Source Wikipedia

Role: Fighter
Manufacturer: Hawker Aircraft, Gloster Aircraft Company, Canadian Car and Foundry, Austin Motor Company
Designar: Sydney Camm
First flight: 6 November 1935
Introduction: 1937
Primary users: Royal Air Force, Royal Canadian Air Force
Number built: 14,533

Specifications (Hurricane Mk.IIC)
Data from Jane’s Fighting Aircraft of World War II

General characteristics

• Crew: One
• 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 cannons
• Bombs: 2 × 250 or 500 lb (110 or 230 kg) bombs

Development

The Hawker Hurricane is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was designed and predominantly built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd for the Royal Air Force (RAF). Although largely overshadowed by the Supermarine Spitfire, the aircraft became renowned during the Battle of Britain, accounting for 60% of the RAF’s air victories in the battle, and served in all the major theatres of the Second World War.
The 1930s design evolved through several versions and adaptations, resulting in a series of aircraft which acted as interceptor-fighters, fighter-bombers (also called “Hurribombers”), and ground support aircraft. Further versions known as the Sea Hurricane had modifications which enabled operation from ships. Some were converted as catapult-launched convoy escorts, known as “Hurricats”. More than 14,000 Hurricanes were built by the end of 1944 (including about 1,200 converted to Sea Hurricanes and some 1,400 built in Canada by the Canada Car and Foundry).

Origins

The Hurricane was developed by Hawker in response to the Air Ministry specification F.36/34 (modified by F.5/34) for a fighter aircraft built around the new Rolls-Royce engine, then only known as the PV-12, later to become famous as the Merlin. At that time, RAF Fighter Command comprised just 13 squadrons, each equipped with either the Hawker Fury, Hawker Hart variant, or Bristol Bulldog – all biplanes with fixed-pitch wooden propellers and non-retractable undercarriages.[2] The design, started in early 1934, was the work of Sydney Camm.
Sydney Camm’s original plans submitted in response to the Air Ministry’s specification were at first rejected (apparently “too orthodox” for the Air Ministry). Camm tore up the proposal and set about designing a fighter as a Hawker private venture. With economy in mind, the Hurricane was designed using as many existing tools and jigs as possible (the aircraft was effectively a monoplane version of the successful Hawker Fury); and it was these factors that were major contributors to the aircraft’s success.
Early design stages of the “Fury Monoplane” incorporated a Rolls-Royce Goshawk engine, but this was replaced shortly after by the Merlin, and featured a retractable undercarriage. The design came to be known as the “Interceptor Monoplane,” and by May 1934, the plans had been completed in detail. To test the new design, a one-tenth scale model was made and sent to the National Physical Laboratory at Teddington. A series of wind tunnel tests confirmed the aerodynamic qualities of the design were in order, and by December that year, a full size wooden mock-up of the aircraft had been created.[2]
Construction of the first prototype, K5083, began in August 1935 incorporating the PV-12 Merlin engine. The completed sections of the aircraft were taken to Brooklands, where Hawkers had an assembly shed, and re-assembled on 23 October 1935. Ground testing and taxi trials took place over the following two weeks, and on 6 November 1935, the prototype took to the air for the first time, at the hands of Hawker’s chief test pilot, Flight Lieutenant (later Group Captain) P. W. S. Bulman.[3] Flight Lieutenant Bulman was assisted by two other pilots in subsequent flight testing; Philip Lucas flew some of the experimental test flights, while John Hindmarsh conducted the firm’s production flight trials.[4] Sammy Wroath, later to be the founding Commandant of the Empire Test Pilot School, was the RAF test pilot for the Hurricane and his enthusiastic endorsement helped get it into production.

Design

Though faster and more advanced than the RAF’s current front line biplane fighters, the Hurricane’s design was already outdated when introduced. It employed traditional Hawker construction techniques from previous biplane aircraft, with mechanically fastened, rather than welded joints. It had a Warren girder-type fuselage of high-tensile steel tubes, over which sat frames and longerons that carried the doped linen covering.[5] An advantage conferred by 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 groundcrew at the airfield. An all metal structure, as with the Spitfire, damaged by an exploding cannon shell required more specialised equipment to repair.[6] The old-fashioned structure also permitted the assembly of Hurricanes with relatively basic equipment under field conditions. Crated Hurricanes were assembled 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.
Initially, the wing structure consisted of two steel spars, and was also fabric-covered. Several fabric-wing Hurricanes were still in service during the Battle of Britain, although a good number had had their wings replaced during servicing or after repair. Changing the wings only required three hours’ work per aircraft.[7] An all-metal, stressed-skin wing of duraluminium (a DERD specification similar to AA2024) was introduced in April 1939 and was used for all of the later marks.[3] “The metal skinned wings allowed a diving speed that was 80 mph (130 km/h) higher than the fabric-covered ones. They were very different in construction but were interchangeable with the fabric-covered wings, and one trials Hurricane, L1877, was even flown with a fabric-covered port wing and metal-covered starboard wing. The great advantage of the metal-covered wings over the fabric ones was that the metal ones could carry far greater stress loads without needing so much structure beneath.”[7]
One of Camm’s priorities 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.
In contrast, the contemporary Spitfire used all-metal monocoque construction and was thus both lighter and stronger, though less tolerant to bullet damage. With its ease of maintenance, widely-set landing gear and benign flying characteristics, the Hurricane remained in use in theatres of operations where reliability, easy handling and a stable gun platform were more important than performance, typically in roles like ground attack. One of the design requirements of the original specification was that the Hurricane, as well as the Spitfire, was also to be used as a night fighter. The Hurricane proved to be a relatively simple aircraft to fly at night and was to be instrumental in shooting down several German aircraft during the nocturnal hours. From early 1941, the Hurricane would also be used as an “intruder” aircraft, patrolling German airfields in France at night in an attempt to catch night bombers during takeoffs or landings.

Production

he Hurricane was ordered into production in June 1936, mainly due to its relatively simple construction and ease of manufacture. As war was looking increasingly likely, and time was of the essence in providing the RAF with an effective fighter aircraft, it was unclear if the more advanced Spitfire would enter production smoothly, while the Hurricane used well-understood manufacturing techniques. This was true for service squadrons as well, who were experienced in working on and repairing aircraft whose construction employed the same principles as the Hurricane, and the simplicity of its design enabled the improvisation of some remarkable repairs in squadron workshops. The Hurricane was also significantly cheaper than the Spitfire, requiring 10,300 man hours to produce rather than 15,200 for the Spitfire.[9]
The maiden flight of the first production aircraft, powered by a Merlin II engine, took place on 12 October 1937. The first four aircraft to enter service with the RAF joined No. 111 Squadron RAF at RAF Northolt the following December. By the outbreak of the Second World War, nearly 500 Hurricanes had been produced, and had equipped 18 squadrons.[10]
During 1940, Lord Beaverbrook, who was the Minister of Aircraft Production, established an organisation in which a number of manufacturers were seconded to repair and overhaul battle-damaged Hurricanes. The Civilian Repair Organisation also overhauled battle-weary aircraft, which were later sent to training units or to other air forces; one of the factories involved was the Austin Aero Company’s Cofton Hackett plant. Another was David Rosenfield Ltd, based at Barton aerodrome near Manchester.
In all, some 14,000 Hurricanes and Sea Hurricanes were produced.[clarification needed] The majority of Hurricanes were built by Hawker (which produced them until 1944), with Hawker’s sister company, the Gloster Aircraft Company, making 2,750. The Austin Aero Company built 300. Canada Car and Foundry in Fort William, Ontario, Canada, (where the Chief Engineer, Elsie MacGill, became known as the “Queen of the Hurricanes”) was responsible for production of 1,400 Hurricanes, known as the Mk X.
In 1939, production of 100 Hurricanes was initiated in Yugoslavia by Zmaj and Rogozarski. Of these, 20 were built by Zmaj by April 1941. One of these was fitted with a DB 601 and test flown in 1941.
A contract for 80 Hurricanes was placed with Fairey’s Belgian subsidiary Avions Fairey SA for the Belgian Air Force in 1938, with the intention of arming these aircraft with four 13.2 mm machine guns. Three were built and two flown with this armament by the time of the Blitzkrieg in May 1940, with at least 12 more built by Avions Fairey with the conventional eight rifle calibre machine gun armament.[11]

Operational history

The first 50 Hurricanes had reached squadrons by the middle of 1938. At that time, production was slightly greater than the RAF’s capacity to introduce the new aircraft and the government gave Hawkers the clearance to sell the excess to nations likely to oppose German expansion. As a result, there were some modest sales to other countries. Production was then increased with a plan to create a reserve of aircraft as well as re-equip existing squadrons and newly formed ones such as those of the Auxiliary Air Force. Expansion scheme E include a target of 500 fighters of all types by the start of 1938. By the time of the Munich Crisis there were only two fully operational squadrons of the planned 12 with Hurricanes.[12] By the time of the German invasion of Poland there were 18 operational Hurricane squadrons and three more converting.

Epilogue

The battles over the Arakan in 1943 represented the last large-scale use of the Hurricane as a pure day fighter. But they were still used in the fighter-bomber role in Burma until the end of the war and they were occasionally caught up in air combat as well. For example, on 15 February 1944, Flg Off Jagadish Chandra Verma of No 6 Sqdn of Indian Air Force shot down a Japanese Ki-43 Oscar: it was the only IAF victory of the war.[80] The Hurricane remained in service as a fighter-bomber over the Balkans and at home as well where it was used mainly for second-line tasks and occasionally flown by ace pilots. For example, in mid-1944, ace Sqdn Leader ‘Jas’ Storrar flew No 1687 Hurricane to deliver priority mail to Allied armies in France during the Normandy invasion.[80]

Aircraft carrier operations

Main article: Hawker Hurricane variants
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,[81][N 10] 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.[82]

Hurricane aces

The top scoring Hurricane pilot was Squadron Leader Marmaduke Thomas St. John “Pat” Pattle, DFC & Bar, with 35 Hawker fighter victories (out of 50 and two shared) serving with No. 80 and 33 Squadrons. All of his Hurricane kills were achieved over Greece in 1941. He was shot down and killed in the Battle of Athens. Wing Commander Frank Reginald Carey claimed 28 air victories while flying Hurricanes during 1939–43, and Squadron Leader William “Cherry” Vale DFC and Bar, AFC totalled 20 kills (of 30) in Greece and Syria with No. 80 Sqdn. F/Lt Karel M. Kuttelwascher achieved all of his 18 air victories with the Hurricane, most as an Intruder night figher with No. 1 Sqdn. Pilot Officer V.C. Woodward (33 and 213 Squadrons) was another top-scoring ace with 14 (out of 18) plus three shared, while F/Lt Richard P. Stevens claimed all of his 14.5 enemy aircraft flying the Hurricane.[83] Richard Dickie Cork was the leading Fleet Air Arm Sea Hurricane ace with nine destroyed, two shared, one probable, four damaged and seven destroyed on the ground.[84] Czech pilot Josef František, flying with 303 Polish Squadron, shot down at least 17 enemy aircraft over southeast England during September–October 1940.

Survivors

Main article: List of Hawker Hurricane survivors
Of more than 14,500 Hurricanes that were built,[99] only 12 survive in airworthy condition worldwide, although other non-flying examples survive in various air museums. Two Canadian built Hurricanes were acquired by aircraft collector Lynn Garrison for display in Calgary, Alberta. One of these made its way to the United Kingdom where it now flies at G-HURI.