There were 14,533 Hawker Hurricanes
produced and this one with the serial number PZ865, is now
part of The Battle of Britain Memorial Flight. The first
trials of the aircraft were in 1936 at Martlesham Heath by
test pilot Sammy Wroath, there were 24 variants made of the
Hurricane. This Hurricane was named “The Last of the Many “and
first flew from Langley airfield in Buckinghamshire on the
22nd July 1944 and is now preserved at RAF Coningsby,
Lincolnshire.
In 1950 it
was moved to Dunsfold Aerodrome and was flown by Group Captain
Peter Townsend in the Kings Cup Air Race in Hawkers Dark blue
colouring with gold lettering. In 2010 the colour was changed
again to that of 34 Squadron from South East Asia Command
1944. The PZ865 was a single engine aircraft using the Rolls
Royce Merlin V12, giving it a top speed of 340mph at 21,000 ft
and a range of 600 miles. With a wing span of 40ft with a
maximum weight of 7670 lbs, the aircraft carried 4 x 20mm
Hispano Mk2 cannons, 2 x 500lb bombs.
Some
Hurricanes were converted to the Sea Hurricane and
approximately 250 were used and catapulted off (CAMS) ships
Catapult Armed and Merchant ships, but unfortunately couldn’t
be recovered so had to return to land or abandoned into the
sea. A total of 1715 Hurricanes were flown during the Battle
of Britain, far more than any other British Fighters combined,
they accounted for 80% of enemy planes destroyed between July
and October 1940. |
