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All the Hurricane questions you want to ask here


Sean_M

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Desert FAA Hurricanes were with 803 and 806 Sqns around mid-1941, after these two units lost most of their Fulmars in operations throughout the Med (and their parent carriers were hit by Axis dive-bombers). So, they were definitely ground-based.

Did any of these desert-painted RN Hurricanes feature a black port wing underside or were all of them plain Sky Type S?

Cheers

Michael

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I wouldn't expect any of them to be Sky. Either ME Blue/Iraqi Blue or Azure Blue. I'll have to reserve judgement on the black wing.

Any idea on when/how these colours were applied? I see that Sky Blue is also mentioned frequently, but am still unable to figure out.

I'd believe Hurricanes left the factory in DE/DG/Sky at least up to some time in 1941? In that case, refinishing would be the task of some ME Maintenance Unit?

Claudio

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You are probably right that Hurricanes were being delivered in Sky until some time in 1941. Yes, the Middle East Blue underside colour was painted on at MUs in the Middle East, when the aircraft arrived, as indeed was the Middle Stone (or perhaps more likely Light Earth). Middle Stone and Azure Blue appears to have not appeared on deliveries (at least regularly) until mid-1941 at the earliest. I believe that we do lack specific documentation so cannot be more precise. New aircraft were still being delivered in TLS in April, as shown by photos in the Greek campaign.

Sky was rejected by ME HQ because it was too light and too green. WW2 Sky Blue however is even lighter, so a little unconvincing as a replacement. There is the possibility of confusion with use of the prewar Sky Blue, which was darker, but it seems likelier that "sky blue" was simply used as a generic description of any light blue, rather than the specific MAP colour. In which case 1941 descriptions of "sky blue" undersides are likely to be the ME Blue in theatre, or an early appearance of Azure Blue at the factory.

The black underwing did exist, or perhaps reappear, in ME use after its had been dropped in the UK, but I don't have details to hand. I believe it has been discussed in an earlier Hurricane thread on this board.

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  • 1 month later...

Hello,

I didn't want to start a whole new thread so I came here for some answered even though my query may be a non-sequitur regarding the specific sub-topic under discussion. With all that being said, my question has to do with the type of Hurricane with the 40mm cannon used by Coastal Command for anti-shipping work. We're they the llD or the Mk IV version?

Cheers

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Both Mk.IID and Mk.IV were used in the UK, but not by Coastal Command. Channel Stop work was handed over to Fighter Command, but I don't know of the 40mm cannon being used in this role . That being said I don't actually know of combat use, but believe that they were retained into the early months of 2nd TAF for the anti-tank role.

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OK, sorry if this is a repeat question and I have missed where this has been discussed, but I notice that some Hurricanes have a cable that runs from the leading edge of the elevators to the fuselage, halfway between the wings and elevators. Is this for rigging, or is it an antenna? Can anyone shed some light on this?

Cheers

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Supposedly No.164 RAF did use them for a short time for ground attack in Europe, and used a few times experimentally against Axis shipping. As to operational information, that is tough to track down.

Maybe someone knows something about this squadron's use of the Mk IID/IV.

Cheers

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OK, sorry if this is a repeat question and I have missed where this has been discussed, but I notice that some Hurricanes have a cable that runs from the leading edge of the elevators to the fuselage, halfway between the wings and elevators. Is this for rigging, or is it an antenna? Can anyone shed some light on this?

Cheers

That is probably the early AI F/F aerial.

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OK, sorry if this is a repeat question and I have missed where this has been discussed, but I notice that some Hurricanes have a cable that runs from the leading edge of the elevators to the fuselage, halfway between the wings and elevators. Is this for rigging, or is it an antenna? Can anyone shed some light on this?

Cheers

Antennae. I read somewhere they were used on Squadron leaders a/c only (early radios).

At least I 'think' I read it somewhere :huh:

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The radio aerial ran from the mast aft of the cockpit to the fin. These fuselage to tailplane aerials are indeed for the early IFF. Both would be fitted to all aircraft.

Less definitely, I believe that it was possible to use to IFF as a guide to identifying lost aircraft on a radar screen - by switching it on and off?

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Keith park Hurricane OK-2

Hi everyone,

where should I find the decals for Keith park OK 2 in 1/48th ?

Cheers,

Joseph

Hi, Beppe.

I built OK-1 and used a variety of decals. I grabbed Xtrakit lettering and roundels from Hannants. What you'll struggle with is the pennant below the cockpit. I couldn't find anything in 1/72 and just used a pennant that looked similar, but of a lower ranking.

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Does anyone make a Hurricane MkIIa in 1/72? I haven't seen anything around. Or is there a kit that would make a good base for a conversion? Presumably you could lop the cannons and wing blisters off a IIc Hurricane and drill in some .303 gun ports.

I'm thinking of building OK-2 to sit alongside OK-1 in my cabinet.

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The radio aerial ran from the mast aft of the cockpit to the fin. These fuselage to tailplane aerials are indeed for the early IFF. Both would be fitted to all aircraft.

Less definitely, I believe that it was possible to use to IFF as a guide to identifying lost aircraft on a radar screen - by switching it on and off?

So they could be used as a locator. As they eventually went away, was there a time

when they were limited to squadron leaders a/c as a squadron locator ?

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Does anyone make a Hurricane MkIIa in 1/72? I haven't seen anything around. Or is there a kit that would make a good base for a conversion? Presumably you could lop the cannons and wing blisters off a IIc Hurricane and drill in some .303 gun ports.

I'm thinking of building OK-2 to sit alongside OK-1 in my cabinet.

Not the greatest of kits, but the recent Airfix IIc kit is included in the Operation Torch double kit set with wings to make a IIb. By filling the outer gun ports and lines for the access panels you can get a IIa wing. That might be easier than converting a IIc wing; you'd have to scribe the gun access panels.

The Operation Torch is an Airfix Club kit but it can be picked up for between £10 and £15 and you get the Hurricane and the recent new-tool Swordfish.

Also; afair Revell did a IIb kit. It might still be obtainable

Otherwise its the really old Airfix kit named as a Mk.I/IIb which makes a IIa but neither a I nor IIb. Main fault with the look of that kit was it seemed squashed low at the cockpit.

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So they could be used as a locator. As they eventually went away, was there a time

when they were limited to squadron leaders a/c as a squadron locator ?

Not as far as I know. They didn't go away, exactly: the long (presumably HF) aerials were replaced by a shorter whip aerial under the wing, presumably VHF.

Re Mk.IIB kits: the Hasegawa Hurricane is basically a Mk.IIB, as long as you don't buy a Mk.IIC box of course. You need to check the spinner/propeller and the tailwheel, depending which boxing you have. There's a number of things wrong with the 1970's Airfix release - it is best ignored.

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So another Hurricane mystery..... it's been said before that there is no evidence for a Hurricane Mk1C..., however I was browsing through some drawings and the mod indicated in the title block that it was for a Mk1C, now I've not seen any conclusive photographic evidence but this looks like a smoking gun to me...

Another Hurricane mystery solved...

I was looking at some pictures of the hurricane and noticed a filler cap on the port side of the doghouse behind the canopy. Turns out this is for the auxiliary oil system which is fitted when the Hurricane had overload fuel tanks on...

Of course once I worked that out I was able to find he spot in the republished maintenance manual that said this was needed..... Hidden in plane sight, pun intended.

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There were individual test examples(?) of the Mk.Ic, but it would perhaps be unusual to see this reflected in an official mod for the type. The main problem with a Mk.Ic is that the poor thing would be overloaded, four Hispanos being a very heavy (literally) armament. Apart from the effect on performance, carrying guns in the wings (or any weight) also reduces the agility of the aircraft. One pair of these guns was often removed from Hurricane Mk.IIc when in service - at least outside the UK, where such a thing happened rather more often.

The usual comment made is that there is no evidence for a service example of a Sea Hurricane Mk.Ic, despite a number of references to the contrary in otherwise-reliable sources.

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