World War II Database

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseAircraft designer Sydney Camm of Hawker Aviation began working on a monoplane version of the Fury biplane fighter starting in 1934, knowing that the British Air Ministry had interest in such a development. His design team located at Canbury Park Road in Kingston upon Thames near London, England, United Kingdom initially named this project "Interceptor Monoplane to F.5/34" (the latter being an Air Ministry specification reference number). In Aug 1934, the team submitted the design to the Air Ministry, and it was indeed well received, so much so that within a month the ministry would request British aircraft manufacturing firms to compete for a new specification, F.36/34, whose requirements were nearly identical to the capabilities of this new aircraft design from Camm's team. Hawker officially submitted the design to the British Air Ministry on 4 Sep, and the prototype of what was to be named Hurricane took its first flight from Brooklands in Surrey, England, United Kingdom a year later on 6 Nov 1935, with George Bulman in the cockpit. Hawker was so confident of this design that it had geared their factories to produce 1,000 units before the British military placed its first order. The order came in Jun 1936, for 600 machines, and it was not until later that month that the "Hurricane" name was made official. When the war began in Europe in Sep 1939, 497 were delivered. About one year into the war, on 7 Aug 1940, 2,309 were delivered.

ww2dbaseGiven that the design had its roots in the Fury biplanes, these new fighters actually resembled much more like their WW1-vintage forefathers than their WW2-era contemporaries. Although the general appearance would remain the same throughout the long production life of this design, the details would evolve throughout the years. Mark I machines, for example, were equipped with Merlin C engines and two-blade wooden propellers; by the time the Mark V variant was available in the mid-1940s, the powerplant had been upgraded to Merlin 32 engines that directed power to Rotol four-blade propellers. While many of the changes that took place over the production life were to upgrade the performance or to address problems, some were due to suit war situations; for example, while Mark I aircraft burned glycol, Mark II machines stepped down to a 70-30 glycol ratio to ease on the consumption of this precious strategic material. While the Hurricane fighters' fabric-covered wooden framing wings were legacies of the outdated Fury design, this weak link ironically saved many pilots' lives during the war, as explosive shells from German fighter cannons passed through them without detonating; the use of fabric and wood also meant some of the front line mechanics could perform some of the structural repairs on the wings without having to send the aircraft to repair facilities in the rear. In terms of production, the simple construction also meant that they could be produced in large numbers with relative ease; during the Battle of Britain, Hurricane fighters consistently outnumbered their more capable and rather more famous successors, the Spitfire fighters. While the more maneuverable Spitfire fighters engaged in dogfights with German fighters, it was often the Hurricane fighters' tasks to take down German bombers. Aside from the Battle of Britain, Hurricane fighters also played an important role in the defense of Malta, as well as other campaigns. While the Spitfire fighters attracted more attention from their inception, Hurricane fighters could be said as the real workhorses of the RAF, for that Hurricane fighters shot down more hostile aircraft than any other aircraft models in British inventory during WW2.

ww2dbaseAside from being fighters, Hurricane aircraft also served in close ground support, tank buster, and convoy combat air patrol roles. In the latter, 70 Hurricane fighters fought off Axis forces of a greater quantity during Operation Pedestal; even though carrier HMS Eagle was lost, the convoy successfully delivered large quantities of supplies as well as 36 Hurricane fighters to the garrison at Malta.

ww2dbaseDuring the war, Hurricane fighters also served in many of the Commonwealth military forces such as New Zealand and South Africa. The Free French air force, based out of Britain, also operated some Hurricane aircraft. Many Hurricane fighters were also given, sold, or licensed to be built in other nations such as Russia, Yugoslavia, and Finland.

Hurricane Timeline

SPECIFICATIONS

Mk II

Machinery	One Rolls-Royce Merlin XX liquid-cooled V-12 engine rated at 1,850hp
Armament	8x7.7mm Browning machine guns
Crew	1
Span	12.20 m
Length	9.58 m
Height	3.96 m
Wing Area	24.00 m²
Weight, Empty	2,305 kg
Speed, Maximum	545 km/h
Service Ceiling	10,100 m
Range, Maximum	965 km

Prototype K5083

Machinery	One Rolls-Royce Merlin C engine rated at 990hp
Crew	1
Span	12.19 m
Length	9.60 m
Height	4.11 m
Weight, Empty	1,873 kg
Weight, Loaded	2,573 kg

Mk I

Machinery	One Rolls-Royce Merlin II V-12 engine rated at 1,030hp
Armament	8x7.7mm Browning machine guns
Crew	1
Span	12.20 m
Length	9.58 m
Height	3.96 m
Wing Area	24.00 m²
Speed, Maximum	509 km/h
Service Ceiling	10,120 m

Mk IV

Machinery	One Rolls-Royce Merlin 24 or Merlin 27 engine rated at 1,620hp
Armament	2x40mm Vickers Type S guns, 2x7.7mm Browning machine guns, 8x60lb or 2x250lb or 2x500lb bombs
Crew	1
Span	12.20 m
Length	9.58 m
Height	3.96 m
Wing Area	24.00 m²
Weight, Empty	2,790 kg
Weight, Loaded	3,838 kg
Speed, Maximum	457 km/h

Mk V Prototype

Machinery	One Rolls-Royce Merlin 32 12-cyl engine rated at 1,645hp
Armament	2x40mm Vickers Type S guns, 2x7.7mm Browning machine guns, 8x60lb or 2x250lb or 2x500lb bombs
Crew	1
Span	12.20 m
Length	9.58 m
Height	3.96 m
Wing Area	24.00 m²
Weight, Loaded	4,218 kg
Speed, Maximum	525 km/h

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2.  Hobilar says:
23 Sep 2007 04:10:30 AM

The Yugoslav Government ordered twenty-four Hurricane I from Hawker. The first batch of 12 being delivered from December 1938, the second twelve being shipped in February 1940. In addition the Yugoslav Government placed orders for forty Hurricanes to be built under license at the Rogozarski and Zmaj factories. A monthly delivery rate of eight machines was anticipated but by the time of the German invasion less than twenty Yugoslav built Hurricanes had been completed. On April 6, 1941 the Yugoslav Air Force possessed thirty-eight Hurricanes (18 with No.51 Squadron, 14 with No.33 Squadron and 6 with No.34 Squadron). These saw considerable action against the advancing German columns over Zagreb and Bosnia, before eventually being destroyed by their pilots to stop them falling into German hands.

4.  Bill says:
22 Aug 2010 06:59:45 PM

Information about Prototype Hawker Hurricane
listed in file photo.

The Hurricane first flew in 1935 powered by
a Rolls Royce engine with a fixed pitch two
blade wooden propeller.
The fighter was built with steel tube covered
by fabric, and the first fighters had no
bullet-proof windshields or armor plate it
was easier to build than stress-skinned fighters like the Spitfire.

Skeleton of the Hurricane with the exception of metal sheeting around the cockpit,firewall
engine cowling, propeller spinner and metal
hatches and panels the rest of the aircraft
was fabric covered easy to repair over
sheet metal.
Fabric covering had its advantages bullets
would pass right through without damage to
the airframe, except that luckly hit on the
engine or other important equipment.
Early models also had wings fabric covered as well.

5.  Bill says:
29 Aug 2010 05:34:15 PM

Hawker Hurricane prototype, K5083 was flown by Hawker test-pilot T.P. Fitzgerald.