For aircraft Enthusiasts: The Battle of Britain's unsung hero: The Hawker Hurricane

[Blazer]

I guess there will always be two planes that will be identified with the Battle of Britain:

1. The Supermarine Spitfire


2. The Messerschmitt 109


But it would be unfair to overlook the unsung hero, the plane that actually shot down more enemy bombers during the Battle than the Spitfire did. The Hawker Hurricane.


Now the Hurricane wasn't the fastest or the most capable of Fighter aircraft employed by the Royal Air Force but it was none the less an important one. Because it was the first monoplane fighter that entered service with the RAF.

The Genesis of the Hurricane however lay with Biplane designs and its roots can actually be traced back to the Sopwith Camel.

In the aftermath of the First World War which resulted in the bankruptcy of the Sopwith Aviation Company. Sopwith test pilot Harry Hawker and three others, including Thomas Sopwith, bought the assets of Sopwith and formed H.G. Hawker Engineering in 1920.

In the years that followed, Hawker (By now Hawker Aviation Ltd.) got a name for building outstanding biplane designs and one designer in particullar made a good carreer for himself while working for Hawker: Sydney Camm.


Camm's designs stood apart from competitive designs such as the Bristol Bulldog by having very sleek lines and being really sturdy and easy to fly planes. The Dynasty started with the Hawker Tomtit trainer, which already displayed Camm's keen eye for detail, everything had to be RIGHT.


The Hawker-Camm biplanes became really succesful and every time Camm basically updated his primary design to meet different needs. Eventually it all cumulated in the Gracefull Hawker Hart light bomber.

The Hart and its Fighter version the Fury were considered to be Camm's masterpieces: the sleekest planes around but times were changing.

Camm had already got wind that the motto of speed is second to Manoeuvrability which had made the Biplane such a beloved plane with the military was no longer true, with war looming it was becoming ever so apparent that the days of the Biplane were numbered and that his graceful Fury fighter would have no place in modern warfare.

As before though, Camm stayed true to his method of adapting a proven design rather than to start from the ground up, and as such the prototype for his first monoplane design bore a striking resemblance to the Hart series.


What also didn't change from the Hart series was the fact that the Hurricane was made with the tried and tested method of a wooden wing and a fuselage of steel tubing spanned with fabric, why change a winning team? Apparently the RAF's high command agreed with Camm's logic and ordered the aircraft to be put in production in 1936. And by the time the war broke out 500 aircraft had been built and delivered, supplying 18 squadrons.

In service, the Hurricane was adapted to war conditions, the retractable tailwheel of the prototype was prone to failure and abandoned in favor of a streamlined slat in which the now fixed tailwheel sat, the Rolls Royce Merlin egine was upgraded and armament suitably enlarged when it became clear that normal machine guns didn't really do that much damage.

During the Battle of Britain the Hurricane became the prime anti-bomber aircraft, the more agile Spitfire was used more to keep the Messerschmitts busy, in that role the Hurricane came into its prime, providing the pilots a good stable airframe that could survive big punishment and take the pilot home.

Camm stayed busy, deciding to use the Hurricane design for an eventual successor, more powerful and completely built out of metal so it would be sturdier too. The resulting design had a very strong family resemblance to the Hurricane, if not in it's name.

The Hawker Typhoon.

However when the Typhoon entered service, it was clear that as a fighter it was illsuited for the job, the big wing it inherited from the Hurricane didn't make it agile and the tailunit it also got from the Hurricane was a notorious weak point which was prone to breaking off. The RAF then decided to put the Typhoon in use as a strike aircraft and it was a masterstroke. The Typhoon became known as a tank slayer and its fat wings could easily support heavy ordenance consisting of heavy guns and rockets.

The RAF pilots of the Pacific theatre got the hint that their Hurricanes could also be used in that role and as such employed them as strike aircraft and they remained in that role until the end of the war.

The Typhoon however wasn't the only "son" of the Hurricane. The Hawker Henley for example was a twin seater target towing aircraft used in pilot's target training.

The Henley had the Hurricane's wings and main fuselage but differed in the two man cockpit. They were used from 1938 until 1942 with a respectable 200 built.

Then there was the sole Hawker Hotspur, which was a prototype built to meet the demand for a turret equiped fighter.

The Hotspur shared the main wing and fuselage of the Hurricane. but with the order going to the Boulton Paul defiant design, none more were built.

After the war the Hurricane was quickly withdrawn from service but Camm's designs kept on coming: the Sea Fury, the Sea Hawk, the Hunter, the Harrier all came from his hand. Before he died in 1966, he was planning the design of an aircraft to travel at Mach 4, or four times the speed of sound. It is humbling to imagine that his spectacular career in aircraft design started at a Windsor Model Aeroplane Club in 1912, where he built a glider capable of carrying a man just nine years after the first powered flight. Sydney Camm not only was witness to many developments in aviation, he also influenced the world of aviation significantly throughout his illustrious career

[bassybill]

This is a knowledgeable, well researched, interesting post, thank you. There's a Hawker Hurricane in my local aviation museum, and the Spitfire factory was just a few miles from where I live. My grandmother worked there during the war as a spot-welder!

[Jim Campbell]

Originally Posted by bassybill

This is a knowledgeable, well researched, interesting post, thank you. There's a Hawker Hurricane in my local aviation museum, and the Spitfire factory was just a few miles from where I live. My grandmother worked there during the war as a spot-welder!

i visited the imperial war museum,and the fuselage from the halifax,and this summer i took a tour through a working lancaster......my step dad was a wireless man on the halifax and i counted at least 30 mission markers in a crew pic,and my old man was an erk on mosquitos,and heavy bombers.....

[nutdog]

Beautiful machines. The Hurricane is cool. But the Spitfire is HOT! Bassybill's grandma should be proud. Could be the most aesthetically pleasing aircraft ever built.

Nice post.

[Deathblade Eric]

Went everywhere & did everything, the Fender Precision of fighter aircraft.

Nice bit on the Hurricane IId 'Tin Opener' - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44SF0JBc70w

I wouldn't want to be on the wrong end of one of those.

[doktorfeelgood]

Great plane but this is arguably the fighter, the P-51 D Mustang that won the war as it was able to escort the B-17's from England into Germany and protect them on their bomb runs from the ME-109's and then escort them all the way back. )-(

[EdHunter]

Lemme just throw a spanner into the works here.

A plane which could outrun a Spitfire, outturn a 109, outgun a Mustang and outbomb a B-17. Sounds like a big ask right?

Nah. Just a Mossie!


But back on topic, gotta love me some Hurricane.

[Relic]

Originally Posted by EdHunter

Lemme just throw a spanner into the works here.

A plane which could outrun a Spitfire, outturn a 109, outgun a Mustang and outbomb a B-17. Sounds like a big ask right?

Nah. Just a Mossie!


But back on topic, gotta love me some Hurricane.

Absolutely!

But really, the best fighter of them all regardless of country of origin?
This gull-winged monster:







At an airshow that I helped out with a few years ago, they had a Hurricane present. I had the chance to sit in the cockpit... not a good place to be if you're claustrophobic.

[EdHunter]

If it's an out-and-out fighter you're after, the Corsair, as much as I love it, would have had its arse handed back to it on a plate by a Spit XIV...

[nutdog]

Always been kind of partial to the Hellcat. Ugly, tough, easy to build, easy to maintain. Caused a bit of mayhem in the Pacific.

One of these busted a tailwheel at an airshow at my hometown airport in the 80's. They couldn't find a jack that would lift it. My 1981 Isuzu I-Mark scissors jack fit right under there. It was kind of new thing at the time. All the US cars had the bumper jacks.

Also fueled a B25 that day. My claim to fame.

I remember being disillusioned and heartbroken when, as a boy in the 70's, I learned the military wasn't using these piston fighters anymore. I'm still a little sad.

[Relic]

Originally Posted by EdHunter

If it's an out-and-out fighter you're after, the Corsair, as much as I love it, would have had its arse handed back to it on a plate by a Spit XIV...

Well, let's just put it this way - during the Korean War, a Corsair out-turned and splashed a MIG 15. A Spit XIV would have been cake :P
But dont get me wrong I absolutely LOVE Spits.

[EdHunter]

Originally Posted by Relic

Well, let's just put it this way - during the Korean War, a Corsair out-turned and splashed a MIG 15. A Spit XIV would have been cake :P
But dont get me wrong I absolutely LOVE Spits.

In combat trials against EE Lightnings, Spits could beat them in a turning fight. In real combat they Lightning would have just lit the burners and sodded off.

Slightly back to the topic, Hawker may just be my favourite manufacturer of them all. Tomtit, Hart, Nimrod, Hind, Hurricane, Typhoon , Tempest, Sea Fury, Hunter and Harrier. Goddam!

[TBird1958]

Great post!

Just an addendum to the performance of Allied aircraft vs. any Axis opponent - Both the U.K. and to a much greater extent the U.S. used a much higher octane fuel than their Axis opponents, sophisticated refinery technology was required and neither Italy, German or Japan could produce Avgas of a rating above 87 octane. During the Battle of Britain U.K. planes flew with 100 octane fuel, as U.S. planes began to dominate the war they flew with 130 octane regularly.
OIL and WAR by Goralski and Freeburg is highly recommended reading for an interesting perspective of WWII.

[Relic]

Originally Posted by EdHunter

In combat trials against EE Lightnings, Spits could beat them in a turning fight. In real combat they Lightning would have just lit the burners and sodded off.

Slightly back to the topic, Hawker may just be my favourite manufacturer of them all. Tomtit, Hart, Nimrod, Hind, Hurricane, Typhoon , Tempest, Sea Fury, Hunter and Harrier. Goddam!

True - anything slower will have an edge in a turn fight. Even in '39 Polish Pz-7's and Pz-11's were able to out-turn ME109's though there was a TOTAL mismatch in firepower and service ceiling that put the 109's in almost total dominance.

There was a really great story I read about a post WW2 war in South/Central America. It was Honduras Vs El Salvador (I think??) But one country made use of surplus US Marine Corsairs, the other of US Army/Airforce Mustangs. The pilots of both nations received about the same amount of training - the Corsairs came out on top almost every time.

[Tegzsa]

Originally Posted by doktorfeelgood

Great plane but this is arguably the fighter, the P-51 D Mustang that won the war as it was able to escort the B-17's from England into Germany and protect them on their bomb runs from the ME-109's and then escort them all the way back. )-(

Yes, but only after they put the Spitfire engine in it.

[Tegzsa]

The English Electric Lightning: Supercruising since 1954.



Sopwith Camel. "...the average German never much liked tackling a Camel because he never knew what it was likely to do, which was not at all surprising since the pilot flying it was very often in doubt." (from The Illustrated Directory of Fighters, 2002)

[EdHunter]

I'd just like to put something forward at this point. On a purely plane-by-plane basis, the RAF has almost always been the best airforce. The US may spend more and have Über-computers in each plane and the Sovs may have mass.manufactured till they had no spare room, but the RAF has always had the best planes.

[Deathblade Eric]

Originally Posted by doktorfeelgood

Great plane but this is arguably the fighter, the P-51 D Mustang that won the war as it was able to escort the B-17's from England into Germany and protect them on their bomb runs from the ME-109's and then escort them all the way back. )-(

Originally Posted by Tegzsa

Yes, but only after they put the Spitfire engine in it.

Indeed. The engine that won the war - the Rolls-Royce Merlin. Accept no substitute.

Plus without the RAF giving the Luftwaffe a bloody nose in the Battle of Britain, there wouldn't have been a European War to win. If they'd failed, the world would very likely have a rather different political make up today (& I don't think it'd be particularly pleasant either).

[poorbassist15]

Well, I love and respect the Hurricane, but I think that the p-51 and the Griffin powered Spitfires are the sexiest aircraft ever built.

[crucislancer]

Originally Posted by EdHunter

Slightly back to the topic, Hawker may just be my favourite manufacturer of them all. Tomtit, Hart, Nimrod, Hind, Hurricane, Typhoon , Tempest, Sea Fury, Hunter and Harrier. Goddam!

I think Hawker is my favorite as well, the Tempest, Sea Fury, Hunter, and Harrier are among my favorites.



This Sea Fury was at an air show I attended in 2009. Seeing it fly gave me chills. Too bad it didn't have the original engine, this one used a Pratt & Whitney.


While I agree that the P-51 was a valuable and impressive aircraft in WWII, it didn't win the war. There are too many planes used by the Allies that had a great effect on offensive operations in WWII. To say the P-51 won the war is to say, in my mind, that all the other planes didn't make a difference.