Air Power Series>1:48 die-cast display model>Hawker Hurricane>HA8610
Hawker Hurricane Mk.I V6555 of 257 Sqn., flown by S/LDR. Stanford Tuck, RAF, North Weald, Oct 1940
General Background
The Hawker Hurricane was the first British single-engine fighter and the first single wing aircraft with retractable landing gear as well as an enclosed cockpit and 8 machine guns. The Hurricane went into operational service in December 1937 with the RAF 111 Squadron. The Hurricane is usually over looked as a major player in the BoB because of the Spitfire but 80% of the 1,792 German aircraft shot down were because of the Hurricane. There were 14,533 Hurricanes produced in all variants.
The Aircraft
Prior to September 11, 1940 Robert Stanford Tuck had been flying Spitfires with No. 92
Squadron. On this date he was posted to the No. 257 (Burma) Squadron as the Commanding
Officer and flying Hurricanes. In June 1940 Tuck was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross
and on October 25, 1940 was awarded a bar to add to his DFC. By the end of 1940 Tuck had
accumulated 18 confirmed victories. In December 1940 V6555 suffered severe damage from
enemy fire and was replaced by Hurricane P6864.
Specifications :
| Manufacturer : | Hawker Industries |
| Country : | UK |
| First Year of Service : | 1937 |
| Production: | 14,583 |
| Crew: | 1 |
| Dimensions | |
| Length : | 31.4 ft (9.57 m) |
| Wingspan: | 39.99 ft (12.19 m) |
| Height: | 13.12 ft (4.0 m) |
| Weight: | |
| Empty: | 4,982 lb (2,260 kg) |
| Maximum Takeoff: | 6,446 lb (2,924 kg) |
| Performance: | |
| Power plant: | 1 x Rolls-Royce Merlin III 12-cylinder Liquid-cooled Producing 1,030 hp |
| 2 Bladed Propeller | |
| Later Production Power plant: | 3,164 x Merlin III producing 1,029 hp with a Three-Blade Propeller |
| Maximum Speed : | 318 mph (511 kmh / 276 kts) |
| Maximum Range : | 460 miles (740 km) |
| Service Ceiling : | 35,991 ft (10,970 m) |
| Rate of Climb : | 2,520 ft/min (768 m/min) |
| Armament : | |
| Early Production : | Hard points – 2 |
| Machine Guns – 8 x 7.7 mm Colt-Browning in Wings | |
| Later production : | Machine Guns – 8 or 12 x 7.7 mm Colt-Browning in Wings |
| Hispano Canons – 4 x 20 mm in the Wings | |
| Optional: | Bombs Under-Wings |
| 2 x 250 lb | |
| or | |
| 500 lb | |
| 8 x Unguided Rockets Under-Wings | |
| 2 x 40 mm Canons Under-Wings |