The only Hurricane from the Battle of Britain still airborne today, Hawker Hurricane Mk1 R4118 is widely regarded as historic. Owned by James Brown
The only Hurricane from the Battle of Britain still airborne today, Hawker Hurricane Mk1 R4118 is widely regarded as the most historic British aircraft to survive in flying condition from WWII. Hawker Hurricane Mk1 R4118 was delivered new to 605 (County of Warwick) Squadron at Drem on 17 August 1940. During the Battle of Britain it flew 49 sorties from Croydon and shot down five enemy aircraft. After being battle damaged on 22 October 1940, the aircraft was rebuilt and taken on charge by 111 Squadron at Dyce on 18 January 1941. There it was flown on patrol over the North Sea and was again in combat. Over the following two years it was used primarily as a training aircraft with 59 and 56 OTUs, and was rebuilt a further three times following major accidents, including hitting a lorry on the runway and being stuffed into a snowbank! In December 1943, R4118 was crated at Cardiff and shipped to India as a training aircraft. However it was never needed and remained in its packing case in Bombay until 1947 when it was struck off charge and donated to a university for engineering instruction. The fuselage was stood outside in a compound with the propeller, wings and tailplane laid on the ground. There it remained, exposed to the elements and ignored by the world, until 1996, when retired businessman and restoration enthusiast Peter Vacher began his remarkable quest to bring R4118 home. In June 2001, after six years of lengthy negotiations with the University and the Indian Air Force, the remains of R4118 were crated and shipped back to the UK for restoration. R4118 is now on public display at Old Warden, Bedfordshire as part of the historical Shuttleworth Collection of vintage aircraft, cars and motorcycles. Registered as G-HUPW, it was bought in October 2015 by James Brown of Oxford
Size: 4928px × 3264px
Location: Old Warden, Beds, UK
Photo credit: © Avpics / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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