Hurricane Mk Is

[Graham Boak]

Only very early Hurricanes lacked the ventral strake, and these would tend to have a pole mast.

Armour was a modification added to any aircraft, and is not a guide to production standard.

The two-blade Watts propeller was replaced by the 3-blade DH variable speed (two position) prop whilst the fabric-covered wing was still in production. This had a short semi-conical spinner

Note that the metal wing had different ammunition supply panels, and a different position of the landing light.

The Rotol 3-blade constant speed prop appeared on many Hurricanes in mid-1940, this had a large bulbous spinner, almost hemispherical. Designed for the Spitfire, this slightly overlaps the Hurricane’s nose. Because of oil leaks from the CS unit Hurricanes grew an oil spill ring around the nose, immediately aft of the spinner, to keep oil off the windscreen. This is seen on all aircraft, regardless of propeller.

By July 1940 the vp DH props had been replaced on front-line aircraft by the constant speed DH prop. It is not clear that this had any different external shape, although certainly this seems to be the case on some Sea Hurricanes, which have slightly longer spinners. Difficult to be sure about this point.

Some very late Hurricane Mk.1s had the bullet-shaped Rotol spinner as seen on all later Hurricanes.