¡El Avión MÁS SIMPLE que SALVÓ a Inglaterra de los Nazis! (Hawker Hurricane)

Video from the channel Militar Tech Zone about Hawker Hurricane, linked on its Above Ten Thousand entry. Duration: 14:30. Language: Spanish. Video type: Documentary.

Popular-science overview of the history of the Hawker Hurricane, from Hawker's conception of it as a private venture to the end of its production. It pays special attention to its role in the Battle of Britain, in the summer of 1940.

According to the video, the design emerged in 1933, when the RAF still relied on biplanes and was going through a period of disarmament, while Germany already had the Messerschmitt Bf 109. Sydney Camm, Hawker's chief designer, started from the Fury biplane to propose a monoplane with the new Rolls-Royce engine that would become the Merlin. The prototype flew in November 1935, and the name was approved in June 1936. The first order was for 600 aircraft. No. 111 Squadron received the first ones in late 1937, and when the war broke out, around 500 Hurricanes equipped 18 squadrons.

It had a steel-tube structure with wooden formers and treated-linen covering. Its definitive armament was eight Browning machine guns in the wings, and it had an enclosed cockpit and retractable landing gear. In the Battle of Britain it mainly dealt with the bombers, and its fabric fuselage allowed quick repairs. The video highlights 15 September 1940, with 56 British kills, of which up to 40 were attributed to Hurricanes. It also covers later variants, such as the Mk IID with 40 mm cannons used at El Alamein, and the aircraft launched from merchant ships. A total of 14,487 units were built.