Hawker Hurricane

View aircraft types from Hawker

Hurricane: Single-seat fighter, later fighter-bomber. Renowned for its role in Battle of Britain. The Hawker Hurricane was the first of the British monoplane fighters, progressively replacing Gloster Gauntlets and Gladiators from December 1937. By the outbreak of World War II in 1939, eighteen RAF squadrons were equipped with Hurricanes, compared with nine that used Spitfires. This two-to-one ratio applied through the Battle of Britain in the summer of 1940, in which Hurricanes shot down more enemy aircraft than all other defences - air and ground - combined.

Weight empty kg: 2118 to 2625

Weight max takeoff kg: 2994 to 3832

Winspan m: 12.19

Length m: 9.75

Height m: 4

Max speed mph: 318 to 342

Maximum Altitude ft: 34000 to 41000

First flown: 6 November 1935

Engine: 990hp Rolls-Royce Merlin 'C' through various versions of the Merlin to the 1620hp Merlin 24 or 27. The Packard built Merlin 29 was fitted in the Mk XII.

Armament: Eight 0.303in Brownings each with 333 rounds. Other variants included four 20mm Hispano cannon, rockets, 250lb and 500lb bombs along with smoke and other external stores.

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