[Graham Boak]

Franek: The Hurricane wing was considerably thicker than that used on other fighters of the same design period - the Spitfire is the outstanding case in the other direction, but isn't the Hurricane's wing thicker than that of the I-16, 109, P-36 or Claude? Yes, it was the same problem with the Tornado/Typhoon. The main problem with the fuselage was the excessive depth, and thus large cross-section, in order to give a good view forward and downwards. To alter this would have meant major changes to the basic design. Yes, the canopy could be improved, as indeed it was on the Spitfire, and the Hurricane's structure lends itself to such a mod. It probably is a missed chance, but the comparison you make with the Yak.1 is much later than the Hurricane's main period of use, and later designs than the Hurricane were being built with rear view as bad - Tornado/Typhoon, Mustang, Yak and the entire production run of Bf 109s. The fabric covering of the rear fuselage is irrelevant, and the Corsair had fabric covered wing panels much later. The use of fabric covering for the control surfaces lay in handling requirements, and remained in use on e.g. the Mustang. A separate case can perhaps be made for metal-covered ailerons at high speeds, but are there specific reports of heavy ailerons on the Hurricane? Maybe it never went fast enough for it to matter?

The Yak 3 could comfortably outperform the Spitfire Vc at other than high altitudes: the Vc was the heavyweight dragmaster of the Spitfire V family. A better comparison would be the LF Mk.Vb, with its stellar performance at (very) low altitudes.