Jetrader - March/April 2009 - 31

steel-space frame struts could be replaced in the ﬁeld by typical RAF ﬁtters (mechanics) who were experienced from the wood and fabric biplane days. Its simple construction allowed it to be crated, shipped and quickly assembled in the ﬁeld or desert by ground crews. A number of aces preferred the Hurricane to the Spitﬁre, although it had an inferior speed to the Spitﬁre and the Messerschmitt, which could out-turn both British types—provided its speed did not decay to the point where its wing slats would automatically deploy and allow the RAF pilot to realign on its tail. The result was that, in combat, both the Spitﬁre and Hurricane could out turn the Messerschmitt but not out dive it, due to the Merlin’s carburetor ﬂooding under negative-G loads. This problem was eventually cured by an engineer at Farnborough—Miss “Tilly” Shilling, who had a washer ﬁtted in the unit with a restrictor hole just large enough to allow a fuel ﬂ ow for maximum power. It ofﬁcially became known as Miss Shilling’s oriﬁce. The Hurricane‘s eight Brownings could deliver 13 lbs (5.9 kgs) in a three-second burst, while a Messerschmitt—with its two, 20 mm cannons and two machine guns—could ﬁre 18 lbs (8.2 kgs). The study structure of the German bombers permitted it to absorb a large number of hits from the 0.344 oz Browning bullets, compared to the 4.82 oz Swiss Oerlikon cannon in the Messerschmitt. The Hurricane was eventually ﬁtted with four Hispano 20 mm cannon, and in 1942, the IID tank buster version made havoc with Rommel’s North African Panzer units when ﬁtted with two 40 mm Vickers cannon and 15 armor piercing rounds per gun, plus two .303 Brownings for infantry suppression. The Hawker Hurricane Mk1, shown here at an airshow in Gloucestershire England. Facing Long Odds After the 1940 evacuation, minus the guns and tanks, of 338,226 British and French troops from Dunkirk in the nine days from May 26 to June 4, Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh Dowding found himself short of some 200 Hurricanes that had been destroyed in the air and on the ground in France. Even so, he had at his disposal for the coming battle, 36 squadrons of Hurricanes and 19 squadrons of Spitﬁres, though many of these were not up to full strength, and they faced 1,693 bombers and 809 ﬁghters available to the Luftwaffe. The RAF faced a force four times its size. The Hurricane was slower in speed and climb than the Messerschmitt Offer your aircraft a second home Cargo Hub Air Center Logistics Zone Looking for one-stop aircraft services in Europe? Conveniently located 200 km south of Paris, the Air Center at Chateauroux Airport (France) is a full-service maintenance, repair and overhaul facility (EASA Part 145 compliant) for narrow and wide-body commercial aircraft. The Air Center also provides aircraft deconstruction and recycling (ISO 14001 certi ed) and short/ long-term storage. With the Air Center at Chateauroux Airport, high-quality aircraft services are closer than you thought. info@chateauroux-airport.com www.chateauroux-airport.com Jetrader 31

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Jetrader - March/April 2009

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