Hurricane Mk. IV

Fighter

Hawker

Hawker Hurricane IV: Developed Hawker Hurricane IID with uprated Merlin and 'universal' wing carrying two 0.303 in (7.7 mm) Browning guns and wiring for either two 40 mm Vickers S cannon or eight 60 lb (27.1 kg) rocket projectiles. Prototype with 1,620 hp Merlin 32, deepened ventral radiator, Rotol four-bladed propeller and tropical filter first flown March 14, 1943.

Second prototype with definitive 1,390 hp Merlin 27 and three-bladed Rotol propeller flown March 23, 1943. Service use began May 1943 (No 164 Sqn) and equipped six squadrons in the UK, one in ME and two in Burma for combat use; others for second-line duties. Production total, 524 by Hawker.

Hawker Hurricane V: Redesignation of first Mk IV (KX405) in July 1943, with Merlin 32 boosted for optimum low-altitude performance. Two more prototypes, no production.

Belgian Hawker Hurricane: Contract for 80 aircraft placed with Avions Fairey SA on behalf of the AeM (Belgian Air Force) in 1938. Similar to Hawker Hurricane I but with wing armament of four 0.50 in (12.7 mm) FN-built Browning guns. Three built and two flown by May 1940, when German invasion terminated production. Nineteen British-built Hawker Hurricane Is (including four which force-landed in Belgium in 1939) on AeM charge in May 1940, saw no action.

Yugoslav Hawker Hurricane: Production of 100 Hawker Hurricanes for Royal Yugoslav Air Force initiated 1939 by Zmaj (60) and Rogozarski (40), but only 20 built by Zmaj by April 1941, when production terminated. One Hawker Hurricane fitted in Yugoslavia with Daimler-Benz DB 601A for comparative trials.

Soviet Hawker Hurricanes: Nearly 3,000 Hawker Hurricanes supplied to Soviet Union 1941-1944 from British and Canadian production, including 210 Mk IIA (some Mk I conversions), 1,557 Mk IIB, 1,009 Mk IIC, 60 Mk IID and about 100 Mk IV. In Russia, some Hawker Hurricanes adapted to have 0.50 in (12.7 mm) machine guns of US origin, and a few modified to two-seaters for training.

Canadian Hawker Hurricanes (Mks X, XI, XII): Production of Hawker Hurricane initiated by Canadian Car and Foundry at Fort William late-1938 against British contract, and first flight of Hawker Hurricane I (P*120) on January 10, 1940. Production total of 1,451 (perhaps 1,454) included Mk Is and Us with Merlin II/III and Merlin XX respectively, equalling British standard aircraft, and the following specifically Canadian marks.

Hawker Hurricane X: As Hawker Hurricane I with 1,390 hp Packard-Merlin 28 and Hamilton Standard propeller.

Hawker Hurricane XI: As Hawker Hurricane X, but with Canadian equipment in place of British.

Hawker Hurricane XII: As Hawker Hurricane XI, but with 1,390 hp Packard-Merlin 29 and Hawker Hurricane IIB-type 12-gun wing. Some eight-gun Hawker Hurricane Xs later fitted with Merlin 29s in Canada designated Hawker Hurricane XIIA.

Aviation of World War II

Hurricane Mk. IV

Fighter

Hawker

Bibliography