Description
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.
“Operation Jubilee” took place on August 19, 1942 as a raid on Dieppe France. That morning Hurricanes and Spitfires were over Dieppe to provide cover for the Allied troops and to destroy as much as possible of Germany’s assets in the area. It wasn’t long before flak was being taken by the aircraft. One Hurricane was BN320/FT-A from No. 43 Squadron and piloted by Sqn. Ldr. Du Vivier. On this day BN320 made 4 low-level ground support sorties while accumulating damage each time. By the end of the day BN320 was too badly damaged to continue flying.
Specifications
- Crew – 1
- Dimensions
- Length – 32 ft 3 in (9.83 m)
- Wingspan – 40 ft 0 in (12.19 m)
- Height – 13 ft 1.5 in (4.0 m)
- Weights
- Empty – 5,745 lb (2,605 kg)
- Loaded – 7,670 lb (3,480 kg)
- Maximum Take-off – 8,710 lb (3,950 kg)
- Performance
- Engine – 1 X rolls-Royce Merlin XX liquid-cooled V-12, 1,185 hp (883 kW) @ 21,000 ft (6,400 m)
- Maximum Speed – 340 mph (547 km/h) @ 21,000 ft (6,400 m)
- Rate of Climb – 2,780 ft/min (14.1 m/s)
- Service Ceiling – 36,000 ft (10,970 m)
- Range – 600 mi (965 km)
- Armament
- Guns – 4 X 20 mm (.79 in)
- Hispano Mk II Cannons Bombs – 2 X 250 or 500 lb (110 or 230 kg)