A question on Hurricane finishes........

[mackem01]

This has been vexing me for some time but I have been unable to find an answer, so I'll ask the more enlightened among us.

Would there be a correalation between where a Hurricane was built or who built it and the colour scheme it was finished in??

I am thinking in particular of P2728, one of a batch of Gloster built machines? Did the contract specify how the batch would

be painted?

T.I.A.....

[Edgar]

A general pattern, for fighters, was issued, as an "Air Diagram," and companies were expected to keep to that general pattern, though it was always stressed that it was a guide, so it was possible to see variations.

It was left to the company to transfer the pattern onto a scale drawing of the airframe (I have a copy of a Spitfire drawing, but not a Hurricane,) which was then covered by " 1'-0" " (one foot) squares to guide the painter as he drew the design on the "stencil mats."

At first, Hurricanes, like Spitfires, were supposed to alternate airframes between the "A" & "B" mirror schemes, which were ditched in early 1941, in favour of a single scheme (usually the "A"); years ago, ex-Hawker employees told us how they painted the whole airframe dark earth, laid the mats in place, and painted the green. When a mirror scheme was needed, they just flipped the mats over.

[Graham Boak]

Gloster was owned by Hawker, so would have followed Hawker practice. The one known exception is that Gloster is said to have continued the use of the pre-war roundel colours longer than other companies. It is also logical that Gloster-built Hurricanes are likelier to have had the Rotol prop and the DH, because of the closeness of the factories and their earlier close working relationship, but I've not seen this bias confirmed anywhere.

[mackem01]

Thanks Edgar, that's a great start. I have a poor picture of said machine that should allow me to tell wether it's in the A or B scheme.

I'm probably looking for pointers to the underside finishes more than anything else. The aircraft was lost 09/09/40 so presumably it

would still be wearing one of those black/white/silver underside finishes?

[Wez]

Thanks Edgar, that's a great start. I have a poor picture of said machine that should allow me to tell wether it's in the A or B scheme.

I'm probably looking for pointers to the underside finishes more than anything else. The aircraft was lost 09/09/40 so presumably it

would still be wearing one of those black/white/silver underside finishes?

The orders changing over to sky (or equivalent) undersides came in early June 1940, therefore, I would expect a Hurricane operating in September would have changed over to that colour scheme by then (there's always a chance it hadn't but it would be highly unlikely).

Wez