Hawker Hurricane Mk IA

From The Air Combat Wiki

Contents 1 Fighter Ace Screenshots 2 Fighter Ace Ratings 3 Fighter Ace Performance 4 Historical Statistics 5 Strengths 6 Weaknesses 7 History 8 Sources 9 See Also

Fighter Ace Screenshots

Fighter Ace museum screenshot by Doug@HQ	Fighter Ace museum screenshot by Doug@HQ	Fighter Ace museum screenshot by Doug@HQ	Fighter Ace museum screenshot by Doug@HQ
Fighter Ace museum screenshot by Doug@HQ	Fighter Ace museum screenshot by Doug@HQ	Fighter Ace museum screenshot by Doug@HQ

Fighter Ace Ratings

Durability: 3

Speed: 5

Maneuverability: 8

Firepower: 2

Climb Rate: 4

Ground Attack: n/a

Fighter Ace Performance

Top Speeds						Climb Rates
	Sea Level	4921' 1500m	9843' 3000m	19685' 6000m	Best Speed	Best IAS	to 1000m	to 3000m	to 6000m
mph	242	263	285	318	321@ 16404'	146 mph	2:04	5:29	9:46
mph WEP	245	267	290	n/a	324@ 16404'
kph	389	423	459	511	518@ 5000m	235 kph
kph WEP	395	429	466	n/a	521@ 5000m

Historical Statistics

Service Date: March 1938

Primary Guns: 4x Browning 0.303" (7.7mm) machine guns with 334 rpg in wings

Secondary Guns: 4x Browning 0.303" (7.7mm) machine guns with 334 rpg in wings

Ordnance: none

Engine(s): 1x Rolls-Royce Merlin III in-line rated for 1,030 hp at sea level (1,080 hp with WEP)

Int Fuel Capacity: 698 lbs (317 kg)

Ext Fuel Capacity: none

Maximum Speeds: 245 mph (394 kph) at sea level, 324 mph (521 kph) at 16,240 ft (4,949 m)

Ceiling: 34,200 ft (10,424 m)

Loaded Weight: 6,600 lbs (2,994 kg)

Wing Area: 257.4 sq ft (24 sq m)

Wing Loading: 25.6 lbs/sq ft (124.8 kg/sq m)

Strengths

Durability: The tubular steel skeleton of the Hurricane gave it a remarkable durability for a plane of its era.

Weaknesses

Ground Attack: Lacking an ordnance carrying capacity of any kind and equipped only with .303 machine guns, the Hurricane is incapable of doing any anti-ground work.

Firepower: Even with a brace of eight, the .303 Browning just didn't have enough punch to make it a viable fighter weapon.

History

Hawker Aircraft Ltd. had a long history of producing single-engine warplanes with origins that reached back to the famous Sopwith Camel. Hiring Sydney Camm as their chief designer proved to be a stroke of good luck that resulted in the production of Hawkerís most famous plane - the Hurricane.

Immediately upon assuming the role of chief designer in 1925, Sydney Camm started work on a monoplane design. While it was never built, Camm never let the idea drop from his mind and in 1933 he directed the company to begin work on a monoplane based around the Rolls Royce Goshawk steam-cooled engine and using lessons learned from the Hawker Fury biplane. Working with Rolls Royce, Camm found out that they were working on an even more powerful engine, known at the time as the PV-12.

While the new design incorporated many advanced features, it used the standard Hawker construction techniques that they used on their biplanes, namely a tubular frame construction covered by doped fabric. The biggest impediment to development was the lack of reliability in the new Rolls Royce powerplant, but finally in February 1936 the first prototype was delivered to the RAF for official trials.

So confident were they that the Air Ministry would accept the plane, Hawker's directors, including T.O.M. Sopwith, decided to start a large-scale production program. This proved to be a fortuitous move as they were able to deliver over 500 planes by the time the war started on September 3, 1939.

The first half of the production order of 600 planes was powered by the Merlin II fitted with a two-blade, fixed pitch Watts wooden prop. However, the second half of the production run was equipped with the newer Merlin III engine and either a Rotol or deHavilland three-bladed, multi-pitch metal prop. The fabric-covered wings were also giving way to metal covered versions and earlier versions of the Mk.I were usually retrofitted with the newer engine, prop and wing when they underwent depot level repairs and refits.

At the beginning of the Battle of Britain RAF Fighter Command had 30 squadrons of Hurricanes and 19 squadrons of Spitfires, which meant that the Hurricanes bore the brunt of the fighting. Because the Spitfire was faster and more agile, it was targeted towards fighters while the slower but more durable Hurricanes were sent after the bombers. However, despite the greater notoriety of the Spitfire and its pilots, it was a Hurricane pilot of No. 249 Squadron, Flt. Lt. J.B. Nicholson, who won the only Victoria Cross awarded to a member of Fighter Command.

Sources

Green, William; Famous Fighters of the Second World War; Hannover House, Garden City, NY; 1960.

Scutts, Jerry; Hurricane In Action; Squadron/Signal Publications; Carrollton, TX; 1986.

See Also

Fighter Ace Planes Inventory

Hawker Aircraft, Ltd.

Aircraft Manufacturers During World War II