Hawker Hurricane Mk I


Plane: Hawker Hurricane Mk I

Weight (Empty/Loaded/Max): 4,982lb / 6,532lb / 7,490lb

Wing Area: 258sq ft

Wing Loading: 23.2lb/sq ft / 25.3lb/sq ft / 29.0lb/sq ft

Length: 31' 5"

Span: 40' 0"

Wing Aspect Ratio: 6.2

Engine: 1,030hp Rolls Royce Merlin III Inline

Flaps: 2 settings

Visibility:

Control Feel:

Stall Speed 1k (No Flaps/Full Flaps) 80mph/65mph

Guns:

  type/ammo ROF Duration WB Punch Muzzle Velocity Ammo/Gun
Primary: 4x.303 Browning MG 15.1/s 23.3s 7.6x.30cal/ping 2,600ft/s 350
Secondary: 4x.303 Browning MG 15.1/s 23.3s 7.6x.30cal/ping 2,600ft/s 350

Ordnance:
0: none
1: none
2: none
3: none

Fuel Time/Percent: 44 seconds/percent

Power/weight (Empty/Loaded/Max): 4.8lb/hp / 6.3lb/hp / 7.3lb/hp

Corner Velocity: 200mph

Durability:

WEP time: 5 minutes


Accleleration:

  1,000ft 5,000ft 10,000ft 15,000ft
Stall-200mph 27.2s 30.6s 41.6s 55.9s
150mph-200mph 15.7s 19.6s 25.1s 33.5s
200mph-250mph 37.3s 49.3s 59.0s -
250mph-300mph - - - -

Climb:
1k-5k: 66s
5k-10k: 112s
10k-15k: 130s

Zoom Climb:
1k 400mph: +4,200ft
1k 300mph: +2,900ft

Dive:

  Max Speed After 30s After 60s
15,000ft to 10,000ft 355mph 280mph 260mph
15,000ft to 5,000ft 450mph 295mph 270mph
10,000ft to 5,000ft 360mph 285mph 265mph
10,000ft to 1,000ft 455mph 300mph 275mph
5,000ft to 1,000ft 365mph 285mph 270mph

Max Speed

  1,000ft 5,000ft 10,000ft 15,000ft
Climb before levelling 260mph 255mph 250mph 245mph
Diving before levelling 260mph 255mph 250mph 250mph

Turn Performance

300mph 1,000ft 5,000ft 10,000ft 15,000ft
One 360 12.1s 12.4s 13.6s -
Two 360s 24.2s 25.3s 30.0s -
250mph
One 360 10.2s 11.7s 12.9s 15.0s
Two 360s 23.6s 26.2s 28.5s 33.2s
Sustained
No Flaps 14.8s 16.4s 18.5s 22.1s
Full Flaps 14.8s 16.6s 18.4s 22.2s
Best Flap full full full full
Speed/best 105mph 105mph 100mph 100mph

Corner Speed and Radii (1,000ft)

Speed: 200mph
Radius: 291feet
Sustained Turn Speed: 125mph
Sustained Turn Radius: 436ft
Full Flaps Speed: 110mph
Full Flaps Radius: 384ft

Corner Times 1,000ft 5,000ft 10,000ft 15,000ft
180 degrees 4.8s 5.3s 6.2s 6.4s
360 degrees 10.8s 12.1s 13.3s 14.1s

Roll Rate:
150mph: 5.0s
200mph: 4.0s
250mph: 4.3s
300mph: 5.4s
350mph: 7.6s
400mph: 11.6s

Minimum Full-Flaps Full-Power Split-S altitude:
150mph: 900ft
200mph: 1,300ft
250mph: 1,400ft
300mph: 2,000ft


Hoof's Tips and Opinions:

The Hawker Hurricane was one of the most important planes of the Battle of Britain. An early design, it was the first British fighter to exceed 300mph, with the prototype reaching 312mph at 20,000ft. During the Battle of Britain, the Hurricane accounted for most of the kills against the Luftwaffe, and formed the backbone of the RAF.

The Warbirds Hurricane is an interesting bird. Compared to the rest of the planes available, the Hurricane has only one real advantage going for it, it's turning ability, and even there most of the Japanese planes have it cold, and can outmuscle it with superior horsepower-to-weight ratios. In a general arena setting, this plane will probably see very little use due to it's inability to take advantage of situations and it's very light firepower.

Where this plane will probably see the most use, other than scenarios, is in the early stages of the Rolling Planeset. In a Battle of Britain planeset, this plane can turn with anything flying, and the firepower isn't all that bad. Against the Bf109E, though, it has to be careful, since it doesn't have the vertical performance that 109 does, nor does it have the speed, thus it has to kill on the first try if it surprises a 109. And killing is where most Hurricane pilots will be frustrated in, because despite hurling 120 .303 rounds per second, the HurriI has the overall firepower of a Ki43, and suffers the same problems as the SpitI. And the HurriI doesn't have the horsepower to weight ratio to keep on target vs the Bf110C4, Bf109E4 and SpitI in order to ensure enough time to get a kill. A Hurricane pilot has to sucker the opponent into turning with him, and has to be a very good shot or risk the target making evasive maneuvers before enough .303 rounds can down him.

If Warbird's modeling of the Bf110C4, Bf109E4 and HurricaneI represents the actual birds flying during the Battle of Britain, if the Spitfire hadn't been around, the Hurricane would have had its hands full trying to take on the LW planes. The fact that the Hurricane did so well is testament to the quality of its pilots and the ground control of the British during the Battle of Britain. And had the British been pressed into an offensive war with only Hurricanes to use as fighters, I believe the RAF would not done well at all, as the Hurricane is not well suited for offensive operations, being slow, with poor acceleration and climb, and considering that offensive operations do not suit TnB combat very well, which is the only real asset for the HurriI vs the Bf109 and Bf110.

This plane is definitely an expert's plane. In the arena, try to sucker people into turning with you. The Hurricane's roll rate is quite good under 350mph, so you can use reversals and the Hurricane's good instantaneous turn rate to win TnB matches and use the opponent's speed against them. The Hurricane is also one of the few planes that can TnB with the A6M5 on fairly equal terms (although the A6M5 is faster, dives better, climbs better, and outaccelerates the HurriI). With the SpitI available during the same time period, and with the SpitI able to do everything, including turning, as well or better than the HurriI, those who wish to fly early British planes will probably fly the Spit.

Be careful attacking the Ju88A4 in a BoB setting. The Ju88A4 is a later version of the Ju88, with beefed up engines and much better defensive guns. The 13mm machine gun in the top gun position has half the firepower of the HurriI's guns combined, and the Ju88 is faster overall than the HurriI. In order to bust a Ju88, you really have to be vectored in front of the Ju88 and make a curving pass at it, firing all the way. Don't bother with a second pass unless you happen to have gobs of speed because Otto will take you out before you can reach a good firing position again. Teamwork vs the Ju88 is a must, with several Hurricanes diving on a single Ju88 at the same time, wearing it down with .303 fire.

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