Hurricane Mk I

    Sidney Camm, chief designer for the Hawker Engineering Company, had vision to see that the biplane era was nearing its end. In 1925 he designed a monoplane (never built knowing that this was the fighter type of the future . In 1933, under Camm's direction, Hawker began work on a monoplane which was an adaption of their successful Hawker Fury biplane.
    It initially used a 660 hp Rolls Royce engine, but was changed to the higher potential 1 Rolls Royce PV12, that became the famous Merlin engine. In late 1934 a mockup of the "interceptor Monoplane" was begun, and approval was received for a prototype on 21 February 1935. It flew for the first time on 6 November 1935 with George Bulman at the controls. An order for 600 Mk. 1 Hawker aircraft was received on 3 June 1936, and the name Hurricane was approved that same month. The Hurricane Mk.1 early had fabric outer wing surfaces, a fixed two blade Watts wooden propeller, early ejector exhaust pipes and a tall tail antenna. The Mk.1 late had all metal wings, a three blade DeHavilland or Rotol variable pitch propeller, type II exhaust stacks; short tail antenna and a rear view mirror on the windscreen. The Mk. 1 Hurricane was at the forefront during the Battle of Britain in WWII and is credited, along with the Spitfire, with saving England from invasion by Germany, during that dark period in history.
    DATA:
Crew: 1;
Wingspan: 12.192m;
Length 9.677m;
Height: 3.67m;
Max gross weight: 2924kg;
Engine : V-12 Rolls Royce Merlin III rated at 1,030hp;
Max speed: sea level 408km/h, 6,100m 528km/h;
Range: 683k (w/20 minute reserve);
Armament: 7.7mm machine guns X 8;
First flown:11/06/35 (prototype)