The Hawker Hurricane

The Hawker Hurricane is generally recognized as being the lynchpin of the Commonwealth air forces during the early years of the Second World War.

The Hurricane traces its origins to the biplane Fury fighter. Initial plans were to redesign the Fury as a monoplane, but it quickly evolved into an entirely new eight-gun monoplane which first flew November 6, 1935. After testing, the RAF ordered the monoplane, now known as the Hurricane, into production. The first aircraft reached operational units in 1937.

Due to limited production capacity at Hawker, the decision was made to contract an outside manufacturer to manufacture the Hurricane. Hawker Aircraft awarded the contract to Canadian Car and Foundry Company Limited with plants in Fort William (Thunder Bay), Amherst, NS and Montreal.

Production of the Canadian-built Hurricane Mk I began in 1938 using components imported from the U.K. The first major modification was the usage of the Packard-built Rolls Royce Merlin engine, resulting in a new designation as the Mk. X.

Canadian Hurricanes continued development to meet the changing needs of the RAF and RCAF. The next evolution was designated the Mk. XI. It differed from the Mk X mainly in having RCAF supplied military equipment.

The final variant, the Mk. XII, was noted for having a “universal” wing capable of different weapons configurations and had the highest production of Canadian Hurricanes. Canadian production ended in 1943 after 1451 Hurricanes were built; this represented over 10% of all Hurricanes built.

One of the greatest Canadian fighter aces of the Second World War was Pilot Officer William “Willie” McKnight (an Alberta native) who was credited with more than 16 kills against Luftwaffe aircraft at the beginning of the war while flying a Hurricane. McKnight later disappeared while on a mission and was never seen again.

The importance of the Hurricane to the outcome of the war cannot be overstated. They saw action in every theatre the British were involved with and proved adaptable to many non-traditional roles including tank busting, anti-shipping and reconnaissance. It is this legacy that has assured its place in aviation and military history.