British Hurricane

On November 6, 1935, the first Hawker Hurricane designed by Sydney Camm, took flight. The original plans for the British Hurricane called for a Rolls-Royce Goshawk engine, four machine guns, and fixed landing gear. Instead, the first production of the Hurricane included a more powerful PV.12 Merlin engine, retractable landing gear and eight machine guns. Similar to the Hawker biplanes, the monoplane Hurricanes’ fuselage was built around a mold of four alloy and steel tube longerons known for its durability and simplicity. Initially, 600 Hurricane MkIs were ordered by the Royal Air Force on June 1936, and were in service by December 1937.

Production began on the Hurricane MkIIs, which had 1,185 hp Merlin XX engines and several different armament variations. The Hurricane MkIIA had eight machine guns, similar to the original Hurricane MkI; Version MkIIB carried twelve machine guns; MkIIC four 20 mm cannons; MkIID two 40 mm Vickers ‘S’ guns and two .303 inch guns. The last production version of the Hawker Hurricane was the MkIV with two underwing attachment points able to carry eight rockets, two bombs, or fuel bubbles.

As the outbreak of the war became more apparent, an urgency for the fighter aircraft was a major issue. The decision was made to produce Hurricanes at the Canadian Car and Foundry plant in Fort William, Canada. The first order for the Canadian factory of 40 Hurricanes came on December 5, 1938. Design drawings and all the needed materials for the 40 planes were shipped overseas, and production began immediately. Eight months after the order was placed, an English inspector traveled to the Canadian factory and was amazed to see the wings were in the jigs and almost complete. This was a total surprise since the British were sill producing their Hurricanes with fabric covered wings. The Canadians were very successful at producing the planes and orders continued to come in. Canadian-built Hurricanes went to several different countries. Russia received 200, 330 went to the Royal Air Force, Canada kept 480, and the remainder of the 1,451 built in Canada were sent to Malta, Egypt, India, Burma, and Portugal. Over 14,000 Hurricanes were built between Britain and Canada and were used by over 15 countries including Russia.

This British built Hurricane, serial number ANAE231, was discovered in Russia wrecked in a peat bog in 1999. The pilot, JLt. Boris Lazarev, was found preserved inside of the plane and he was turned over to the proper authorities. This Soviet pilot from the 760 Air Fighter Regiment was shot down on February 21, 1943 by German pilot Theodor Weissenberger from JG5. The fuselage is currently in Suffolk, Virginia.

This Hurricane fuselage will make a terrific starting point for a Hawker Hurricane project. This valuable plane is for sale or trade.