Hawker Hurricane, copyright RAF Museum Hendon
More than twice as many Hurricanes compared with Spitfires were on squadron service when the War began. The Hurricane was the product of Hawker’s head designer, Sydney Camm. He had designed a whole series of bi-plane fighters for the RAF. The Hurricane was the direct descendent of the last of these. It was to replace the Hawker Fury bi-plane which had been standard on many RAF squadrons, and entered squadron service in January 1938.
The Hurricane’s construction followed the same pattern as its antecedents. The body and the wing of the Hurricane were covered in fabric. The aeroplane was slightly larger than the Spitfire and in comparison it was slightly slower, having a top speed of 328mph, but it was a thoroughly reliable gun platform. Moreover, pilots who flew it swore by its performance. The aircraft was considered highly manoeuvrable: it could turn more tightly that both the Me109 and Spitfire. The aircraft had the advantage of being relatively simple to service. It also had the major advantage of being able to take a great deal of punishment from enemy fire. It was more simple and straightforward to manufacture than the Spitfire.
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July 25, 2010 at 8:06 am
Day 16 – July 25th 1940 « Battle of Britain Day by Day
[...] theme: The Planes They Flew – The Hurricane Follow the Battle Day by [...]
July 28, 2010 at 2:55 pm
Peter Millist
I have always thought that the Hurricane got the raw deal on prestige and accoldaes for it role in the Battle of Britain. Basically, if we didn’t have the Hurricane, the Battle of Britain would have been lost. So let’s hear it for the Hurricane!
August 21, 2010 at 9:13 am
Mark
I fully agree
My brother Stanley Andrew was with 46 Squadron in Hurricanes and flew with them in Norway taking off from the flight deck of HMS Glorious
This episode especially when 10 flew back and landed with sandbags fixed to the tailplanes to hold down on landing with no arrester gear, must be one of the most famous but unknown episodes in the war.
Sad loss of 2 pilots killed in action in Norway and 8 when Glorious was sunk.
At this year 46 Squadron re-union I was a guest and they certainly remember those days at Digby, Norway, Digby and then Stapleford Tawney flying Hurricanes
August 29, 2010 at 10:59 am
Tony Rudd
That whole episode of the Glorious was the major tragedy of the Norway campaign. I seem to remember a TV documentary about this some years ago which described some argument the Captain of the Glorious had which led to him setting sail in a fit of pique in broad daylight without any naval escort.