Category: Travels

Whilst reading the book Portrait of a Legend, Spitfire (click) about the Supermarine Spitfire, and my previous knowledge, I was very aware of the other aircraft involved in the conflicts of the Second World War, and another British aircraft, the Hawker Hurricane.

  the Hawker Hurricane IIB

In 1934, many developments were taking place in the aircraft industry, including Rolls Royce who were developing the PV-12 engine (PV standing for Private Venture having no Government financing). The PV-12 was later renamed, following the tradition of naming the engines after birds, Merlin.

At this time Camm and his design team were working on a fighter project known as the Hawker Monoplane Fury based around the RR Goshawk engine, but as the new PV-12 offered more power, and the Government Air Ministry had issued a new specification of requirements (F36/34), design changes were made, creating what was first known as K5083, and was first flown on 6 November 1935 at Brooklands, the world’s first purpose-built motor-racing track, the car and aircraft (with Concorde) museum, and home to Mercedes-Benz (UK). The first production Hurricane flew on 12 October 1937, and was delivered to the 111 Squadron at RAF Northolt two months later.

Initially the Hawker Hurricane was fabric covered or doped linen, stemming from the early days of Sopwith, (see video of Sopwith Camel) biplanes and construction methods, and it was only in April 1939 that all steel, stressed-skin wing was introduced. The fabric covering had an advantage over the Spitfire, in that the Hurricane was less prone to bullet damage and was easier to repair.

The Hurricane was the first fighter aircraft to fly over 300mph, and on 10th February 1938, it was flown from Edinburgh (Scotland) to Northolt (London) at an average speed of 408 mph.

The Hurricane was to prove to have less performance in speed, maneuverability, altitude than the Spitfire, but it was the Hurricane that proved itself in the Battle of Britain, accounting for 1,593 out of the 2,739 total kills against the Luftwaffe claimed. The Spitfires would intercept the Luftwaffe fighters, whilst the Hurricanes concentrated on the bombers (Heinkel He 111 and Dornier Do 17). In August 1940, the RAF Fighter Command could call on 32 squadrons of Hurricanes and only 19 of Spitfires.

The Hurricane went on to be developed into a multipurpose aircraft, from the Mk IIA to the Mk XII, to deliver bombs being known as the ‘Hurribomber‘ fighter-bomber, to carry air to air, air to grown rockets, and into the naval version the Sea Hurricane, when in some cases they would be catapulted into the air from ships to go into battle, only to have nowhere to land but ditch into the sea and be lost.

The Hurricane saw action in all the theaters of war, especially North Africa and the Far East.

During the war, Hurricanes were supplied to Egypt, Finland, India, the Irish Air Corps, Persia, Turkey, and the USSR. It is said that the Hurricane was one of the greatest and most versatile fighter aircraft of WWII, and it remained in service with the RAF until January 1947.

I hope this redresses any inbalance I may have caused with the articles on the Spitfires. Portrait of a Legend, Spitfire and Comments from the Spitfire article.

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The Merlin, a liquid cooled, 27 litre, V-12, piston aviation engine, was part of a range of developing engines produced by the world renowned company, Rolls Royce, and during the war over 150,000 engines were to be built.

Rolls-Royce had been developing engines since the turn of the twentieth century, and named the engines after birds, the Kestral, the Buzzard, the Peregrine and the Vulture.

In 1932, Rolls-Royce decided to replace the highly successful Kestral, and started developing the PV-12 engine (PV standing for Private Venture having no Government financing), later to be renamed Merlin. 

Early models of the Merlin A – F had many problems, and it was not until the model G was built, that a reliable engine was produce, being named the Merlin II, and was installed in the Supermarine Spitfire.

Up until 1935, the Merlin II had problems with its’ supercharger, sometimes meaning that the engine would cut-out in maneuvers in the Spitfire, and it was replaced by the Merlin XX, using a modified version of the licensed Farman two-speed/two-stage drive. The engine was also developed into the Merlin 130/131 for the De Haviland Hornet and the 133/134 for the Sea Hornet.

Development also continued in America on the Merlin by the Packard Motor Company of Detroit, the V-1650-1, replacing the Allison turbocharged engine of the P-40F’s, which had limiting altitude problems and production demands. This engine was to also power the P-51 Mustangs, giving it the ability to perform well up to 41,900 feet and achieving the speed of 437mph. Over 56,000 engines were produced by Packard Company.

In Britain, the mighty Merlin, was powering the Hawker Hurricane, the Avro Lancaster, Mosquito, and Spitfire. The engine was under constant development, doubling in power from 746 kW (1000 hp) in 1939 to over 1567 kW (2100 hp) by 1944, mostly through improvements in supercharging.

The Merlin was also developed into an engine for tanks the Rolls-Royce Meteor and the Rolls-Royce Meteorite, and for the navy for use in motor torpedo boats and air sea rescue boats.

A Merlin 500/45 engine was used in the Spanish Hispano Aviacion HA 1112MIL Buchon, based on the Messerschmitt Bf 109g-2.

 The Rolls Royce Merlin engine in a Supermarine Spitfire

The Rolls Royce Merlin in a Spitfire

The Rolls Royce Merlin engine, The Imperial War Museum, RAF Duxford.

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