12/21/2010
Warbirdfare
The Hawker Sea Fury was a British fighter aircraft developed for the Royal Navy by Hawker during the Second World War. The last propeller-driven fighter to serve with the Royal Navy, it was also one of the fastest production single piston-engined aircraft ever built.
The Hawker Fury was an evolutionary successor to the successful Hawker Typhoon and Tempest fighters and fighter-bombers of World War II. The Fury was designed in 1942 by Sydney Camm, the famous Hawker designer, to meet the Royal Air Force’s requirement for a lightweight Tempest Mk.II replacement. Developed as the "Tempest Light Fighter", it used modified Tempest semi-elliptical outer wing panels, bolted and riveted together on the fuselage centerline. The fuselage itself was similar to the Tempest, but fully monocoque with a higher cockpit for better visibility.
In 1943, the design was modified to meet a Royal Navy request (N.7/43) for a carrier-based fighter. Boulton-Paul Aircraft were to make the conversion while Hawker continued work on the Air Force design. The first Sea Fury prototype, SR661, first flew at Langley, Berks, on 21 February 1945, powered by a Centaurus XII engine. This prototype had a "stinger"-type tailhook for arrested carrier landings, but lacked folding wings for storage. SR666, the second prototype, which flew on 12 October 1945, was powered by a Centaurus XV turning a new, five-bladed Rotol propeller and was built with folding wings. Specification N.7/43 was modified to N.22/43, now representing an order for 200 aircraft. Of these, 100 were to be built at Boulton-Paul.
The Royal Navy’s earlier Supermarine Seafire had never been completely suitable for carrier use, having a poor view for landing and a narrow-track undercarriage that made landings and takeoffs "tricky". Consequently, the Sea Fury F X (later F 10) replaced it on most carriers. Sea Furies were issued to Nos. 736, 738, 759 and 778 Squadrons of the Fleet Air Arm.
The F 10 was followed by the Sea Fury FB 11 fighter-bomber variant, which eventually reached a production total of 650 aircraft. The Sea Fury remained the Fleet Air Arm’s primary fighter-bomber until 1953 and the introduction of the Hawker Sea Hawk and Supermarine Attacker.
General characteristics
- Crew: One
- Length: 34 ft 8 in (10.6 m)
- Wingspan: 38 ft 4¾ in (11.7 m)
- Height: 16 ft 1 in (4.9 m)
- Wing area: 280 ft² (26 m²)
- Empty weight: 9,240 lb (4,190 kg)
- Max takeoff weight: 12,500 lb (5,670 kg)
- Powerplant: 1× Bristol Centaurus XVIIC 18-cylinder twin-row radial engine, 2,480 hp (1,850 kW)
Performance
- Maximum speed: 460 mph (740 km/h) at 18,000 ft (5,500 m)
- Cruise speed: 390 mph (625 km/h)
- Range: 700 mi (1,127 km) with internal fuel; 1,040 mi (1,675 km) with two drop tanks
- Service ceiling: 35,800 ft (10,900 m)
- Rate of climb: 30,000 ft (9,200 m) in 10.8 minutes
- Wing loading: 44.6 lb/ft² (161.2 kg/m²)
- Power/mass: 0.198 hp/lb (441 W/kg)
Armament
- 4 × 20 mm (.79 in) Hispano Mk V cannon
- 12× 3 in (76.2 mm) rockets or
- 2,000 lb (907 kg) of bombs
** Hawker Sea Fury - Warbird Fare
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