Airfix 48th Hurricane New Tooling A05127
Developed as a replacement to the bi-plane fighters of the RAF, such as the Hawker Fury and Gloster Gauntlet, the Hawker Hurricane was revolutionary.
The maiden flight of the first production aircraft, powered by a Merlin II engine, took place in 12th October 1937. The first four aircraft to enter service with the RAF joined No.111 Squadron RAF at RAF Northolt the following December. By the outbreak of the Second World War, nearly 500 Hurricanes had been produced.
Although they fought valiantly, these very early Hurricanes, with their fabric wings and two-blade propellers, had fallen behind the best of the Luftwaffe's fighters.
Although often overshadowed by the Supermarine Spitfire, the Hawker Hurricane was in fact the RAF's most vital fighter during the early years of the Second World War. Many of these tough, partly fabric monoplane fighters went with the British Expeditionary Forces to France in early 1940, and once the Blitzkrieg began they put in a valiant defense against the numerically superior Luftwaffe.
Although slower that the Messerschmitt Bf109 and with a less destructive armament, the Hurricane was able to turn tighter, and absorb considerable punishment. During the Battle of Britain it was the RAF's most numerous fighter, mainly tasked with attacking German bombers and many aces such as Robert Stanford-Tuck, Douglas Bader and Pat Pattle gained considerable scores with the Hurricane.
After the Battle of Britain ended the Hurricanes were used across the world, from the Middle East to Russia and even aboard aircraft carriers as the Sea Hurricane. but the summer of 1940 will always be seen as the Hurricane's finest hour.
