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General Specifications
Wingspan: 12.192 m (40 ft.) Length: 9.75 m (32 ft.) Height: 3.99 m (13 ft. 1 in.) Weight: 2,480 kg. (5,467 lb.) Engine: Rolls-Royce Merlin XX V-12 liquid-cooled Horsepower: 1,280 hp. Guns: Eight .303 in. Browning machine guns ___________________________________________________________
Originally conceived as a Fury monoplane with a Goshawk engine, the Hawker Hurricane was redesigned in 1933 to accommodate a more powerful Merlin PV-12 engine, retractable landing gear, and an unprecedented eight machine guns. The airframe was predominantly covered with fabric, but the design featured some real innovations, too: fully retractable landing gear and a sliding cockpit canopy. Six hundred units were ordered in 1936, and the Hurricane became the RAF's first enclosed cockpit monoplane. By the start of the war, 500 had been delivered to 18 squadrons, and Hurricanes would go on to account for nearly half the enemy aircraft downed in the first year of the war. Until the latter part of 1941, the Hurricane was the most numerous of the RAF's combat aircraft. The Hurricane was Britain's front line of defense during the Battle of Britain, and led the charge against Luftwaffe aircraft in the battles over France.
The Hurricane IIA featured a 1280 horsepower Merlin engine, and carried eight wing-mounted .303 caliber Browning machine guns.
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