Hawker Hurricane IIC RAF BBMF Coningsby. GAV 2160-230
Often underrated in favor of the Spitfire , the Hurricane was the main victor of the Battle of Britain. The Royal Air Force had at that time 32 Hurricane squadrons, compared with 19 Spitfire squadrons. This meant that 620 Hurricane and Spitfire fighters (with another 84 assorted fighters like the Gloster Gladiator) had to face the German air threat of 3,500 bombers and fighters. During the "Battle of Britain", along with the Spitfire , it helped to force the Luftwaffe to use the Bf 109 to protect the poor performing twin engine Bf 110 escort fighter. The synthesis of many years' intimate experience of fighter biplane design translated into the modern formula; a compromise between tradition and requirements born of a new era in air warfare--such was the Hawker Hurricane. The first fighter monoplane to join the Royal Air Force and the first combat aircraft adopted by that arm capable of exceeding 300 in level flight, the Hurricane shouldered the lion's share of Britain's defense during the " Battle of Britain", and was largely responsible for the successful outcome of this conflict for the defending forces, equipping more than three-fifths of Fighter Command's squadrons. The Hurricane also proved to possess an astounding propensity for adaptation, and the multifarious roles that it undertook earned for it the distinction of being the most versatile of single seat warplanes to emerge from the Second World War. The Hurricane was the work of Sydney Camm, who began its design in 1934. The prototype first took to the air on November 6,1935, at Brooklands, and the initial production Hurricane I entered RAF service in December 1937, with No 111 Squadron. Powered by the famous Rolls-Royce Merlin engine, it became the first RAF monoplane fighter with an enclosed cockpit and retractable undercarriage, its first fighter capable of a level speed in excess of 483 km/h (300 mph), and its first eight-gun fighter. Under the command of Sqn. Ldr. J. W. Gillan, No. 1
Size: 6212px × 4005px
Location: RAF Fairford. Gloucestershire. England. United Kingdom
Photo credit: © David Gowans / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., air, aircraft, british, built, designed, fighter, force, hawker, hurricane, predominantly, royal, single-seat
