Hawker

Hurricane
WRITTEN BY: Karthikeya Varma
 Hawker Hurricane
The Hawker Hurricane is a British single-seat fighter aircraft of
the 1930s–40s that was designed and predominantly built
by Hawker Aircraft Ltd. for service with the Royal Air Force (RAF).
It was overshadowed in the public consciousness by
the Supermarine Spitfire's role during the Battle of Britain in
1940, but the Hurricane inflicted 60 percent of the losses
sustained by the Luftwaffe in the engagement, and fought in all
the major theatres of the Second World War.

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 Program origins

 During the era in which the Hawker Aircraft company developed the

Hurricane, RAF Fighter Command comprised just 13 squadrons,
equipped with the Hawker Fury, Hawker Demon, or the Bristol
Bulldog, all biplanes furnished with fixed-pitch wooden propellers and
non-retractable undercarriages. At the time, there was an institutional
reluctance towards change within the Air Staff; according to aviation
author Francis K. Mason, some senior figures were prejudiced against
the adoption of monoplane fighter aircraft, while mid-level officers
were typically approachable on the subject and design concepts that
made use of such configurations.
 Design and production
In June 1936, the Hurricane was formally ordered into production, the Air Ministry
having placed its first order that month for 600 aircraft. On 26 June 1936, the type
name "Hurricane", which had been proposed by Hawker, was approved by the Air
Ministry; an informal christening ceremony for the aircraft was carried out during
the following month during an official visit by King Edward VIII to Martlesham
Heath. A key reason for the aircraft's appeal was its relatively simple construction
and ease of manufacture. In comparison to the Supermarine Spitfire, it was
significantly cheaper and involved less labour, requiring 10,300 man hours to
produce versus 15,200 for the Spitfire. As a large-scale war was looking increasingly
likely, and time was of the essence in providing the RAF with an effective fighter
aircraft, it was unclear if the more advanced Spitfire would enter production
smoothly, while the Hurricane made use of well-understood manufacturing
techniques
General Characteristics

Powerplant                  1 x Rolls-Royce Merlin

         V12 (883kW)

Span 40ft 0in (12.19m)

Maximum Weight 7,670lbs (3,480kg)

Capacity 1 Pilot

4 x 20mm Hispano Mk
II cannons / 2 x 250lb
Armament
or 500lbs bombs
(110 / 230kg)

340 mph (547 kph) at

Maximum Speed
21,000 ft

Maximum range  600 miles (965km

Pilot Compartments
Structual Design
 Battle of France

In May 1940, Nos. 3, 79 and 504 Squadrons reinforced the earlier

units as Germany's Blitzkrieg gathered momentum. On 10 May, the
first day of the Battle of France, Flight Lieutenant R. E. Lovett and
Flying Officer "Fanny" Orton, of 73 Squadron, were the first R.A.F
pilots to engage enemy aircraft in the campaign. They attacked one of
three Dornier Do 17s from 4. Staffel /KG 2 that were flying over their
airfield at Rouvres-en-Woevre . The Dornier went away unscathed,
while Orton was hit by defensive fire and had to force land.[54] On the
same day the Hurricane squadrons claimed 42 German aircraft, none
of them fighters, shot down during 208 sorties; seven Hurricanes were
lost but no pilots were killed
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Thanks for the Attention