Hawker Hurricane

The Hawker Hurricane is a British single‑engine fighter aircraft built by Hawker Aircraft and its successor, Hawker Siddeley, in the late 1930s. First flown on 6 November 1935, the Hurricane entered service with the Royal Air Force in 1937 and quickly became a workhorse of the Battle of Britain, accounting for the majority of enemy aircraft shot down during the campaign. Its design combined a robust, all‑metal airframe with a fabric‑covered wing, powered by the Rolls‑Royce Merlin V12 engine that could be upgraded from 1,030 to 1,640 hp. Key features included a comparatively simple construction that facilitated rapid mass production and easy field repairs, an enclosed cockpit, retractable under‑wing spatted wheels, and a versatile armament of eight .303‑inch Browning machine guns, later supplemented with cannon or rockets for ground‑attack roles. The Hurricane’s forgiving handling characteristics made it an effective platform for novice pilots, while its adaptability allowed it to serve in diverse theatres—from the deserts of North Africa to the jungles of Burma—throughout World War II. Its legacy endures as a testament to pragmatic engineering and as a pivotal contributor to Allied air superiority.

Hawker Aircraft

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