Hawker Hurricane Mk IID

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: 7

Firepower: 6

Climb Rate: 4

Ground Attack: 4

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	254	271	285	316	316@ 19029'	146 mph	1:37	4:39	9:31
mph WEP	262	279	295	323	324@ 19029'
kph	408	436	459	508	509@ 5800m	235 kph
kph WEP	422	449	474	520	521@ 5800m

Historical Statistics

Service Date: September 1941

Primary Guns: 2x Browning 0.303" (7.7mm) machine guns with 334 rpg in wings

Secondary Guns: 2x Vickers 'Class S' 40mm cannon with 15 rpg in wings

Ordnance: none

Engine(s): 1x Rolls-Royce Merlin XX in-line rated for 1,460 hp at sea level (1,535 hp with WEP)

Int Fuel Capacity: 698 lbs (317 kg)

Ext Fuel Capacity: none

Maximum Speeds: 254 mph (409 kph) at sea level, 290 mph (467 kph) at 12,000 ft (3,658 m), 316 mph (509 kph) at 19,000 ft (5,791 m)

Ceiling: 33,500 ft (10,210 m)

Loaded Weight: 8,100 lbs (3,674 kg)

Wing Area: 257.5 sq ft (23.9 sq m)

Wing Loading: 31.5 lbs/sq ft (153.7 kg/sq m)

Strengths

Firepower: The 40mm Vickers gun can kill any tank with just two hits.

Weaknesses

Performance: The extra weight of the Vickers guns made the normally nimble Hurricane sluggish and unresponsive.

Durability: With the armor plating removed, the Hurricane IID is very vulnerable to small caliber gunfire.

History

With the failures of the British tank industry to develop a main gun that could penetrate the panzers of the Afrika Korps, the military services began looking for an alternative. Along with the various ad-hoc tank destroyers, made by mounting an anti-tank gun on the back of a flatbed truck, the RAF began experimenting with mounting anti-tank guns on the versatile Hurricane airframe.

Designated the Hurricane Mk IID, the anti-tank fighter was initially fitted with a pair of belt-fed Rolls-Royce 40mm guns, but that was soon supplanted by a pair of 40mm Vickers Type "S" guns with a higher capacity 15-round drum feed. To accommodate the extra weight of the Vickers guns the machine gun armament was reduced to a single Browning .303 in each wing for sighting purposes.

Despite the removal of all but a pair of machine guns, the IID was still too heavy, so the armor plating for the engine, radiator, and pilot compartment was removed. This made the IID extremely vulnerable to small caliber ground fire. Still, despite these weight savings, the IID was a full 1,000 pounds heavier than a fully loaded IIC, with the expected degradation in performance and maneuverability.

The standard attack maneuver was to dive on the target from 5000 ft, which allowed the plane to get up to its maximum speed of 254 mph at sea level. The pilot would fire .303 rounds until they hit the target then would pop off a pair of 40mm rounds, which threw off his aim. The process of firing and re-aiming could be done two or three times on each high speed pass, ensuring that a good pilot could get at least two hits on his target, with devastating results.

Sources

Boyer, Chaz; Hurricane At War; The Promotional Reprint Company, London; 1997.

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