|
Allied and Soviet Air Forces Please use this forum to discuss the Air Forces of the Western Allies and the Soviet Union. |
|
Thread Tools | Display Modes |
#11
|
|||
|
|||
Re: Long-Range Hurricane II (internal tanks)
"Refurbished" could mean anything: any fighter old enough to have served in the BoB would have been through a number of overhauls by whatever time this was in 1941. Do we have any better guide to the timing? However, the Mk.I wing was not capable of carrying anything other than the fixed external ferry tanks.
Many Mk.Is were converted into Mk.IIs, and this was capable of carrying the jettisonable tanks. However, this does not seem to have appeared in the Middle East before the middle of 1941 at the earliest - the operations in Greece/Crete only involved Mk.Is. I don't recall any mention in Shores/Cull book on this campaign concerning anything other than standard Mk.Is in 33 Sq., and late production ones at that, so I suspect the timing is late in the year. The problem remains that there seems to be no place in the Hurricane wing for additional tanks other than the armament bays, and 33 was a fighter unit not FR/PR where a reduced armament would be acceptable. |
#12
|
||||
|
||||
Re: Long-Range Hurricane II (internal tanks)
Thanks again Graham. I think I'll put this one down to faulty memory, and what he may have meant were fixed underwing tanks.
All the best Andreas
__________________
The CRUSADER Project - Research into Operation CRUSADER 1941/42 |
#13
|
|||
|
|||
Re: Long-Range Hurricane II (internal tanks)
Hi
Just a thought graham you mentioned about a year ago in a brit modeller thread, that malta modified it's PR hurricanes to have fuel tanks in the leading edges of the wings. Could this possibly be the same or similar modifiction, but done to a normal fighter hurricane. cheers Jerry post 16 http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/i...howtopic=42962 |
#14
|
|||
|
|||
Re: Long-Range Hurricane II (internal tanks)
That's an interesting thought, but the PR Hurricanes don't carry armament, leaving space for significant tanks.
It's worth also remembering that the Mk.VIII Spitfire had leading edge tanks, tucked into the space ahead of the undercarriage near the wing root. There doesn't seem to be a lot of space there, but it was considered worthwhile. IIRC, the Hurricane already had tanks in the wing root, but I can't picture them offhand (the manual is upstairs.....) Although there are only rare examples of RAF engineering officers carrying out locally-invented modifications to aircraft, those that did happen show considerable inventiveness. Just because I (and it seems no-one else on the board) can't think of how to fit more fuel into a Hurricane doesn't rule it out completely. There's always the outer wing..... not an ideal place for carrying fuel but perhaps? |
#15
|
|||
|
|||
Re: Long-Range Hurricane II (internal tanks)
Quote:
The Hurricane had it's oil tank in the LH wing root ahead of the undercarriage and the filters in the same place on the RH side. The only space that extra fuel cells could have been placed were the gun/ammo bays. The wing tanks are in the center section outboard frame work aft of the undercarriage attach points. I can upload and post pictures of this I shot while doing extensive work on the Fighter Factories Hurri a couple of years ago. |
#16
|
||||
|
||||
Re: Long-Range Hurricane II (internal tanks)
Many thanks all!
All the best Andreas
__________________
The CRUSADER Project - Research into Operation CRUSADER 1941/42 |
#17
|
||||
|
||||
Re: Long-Range Hurricane II (internal tanks)
Okay, just to add to the confusion, Shores et al's new book on the Air War in the Med also mentions LR Hurricane I being used by No. 33 Squadron in September/October. The squadron was re-equipped with Hurricane I after Greece, i.e. during the summer. I have yet to trawl the book in detail to see if there is any other mention of the details of the planes.
All the best Andreas
__________________
The CRUSADER Project - Research into Operation CRUSADER 1941/42 |
#18
|
|||
|
|||
Re: Long-Range Hurricane II (internal tanks)
I'm in the middle of reading it - 27th September. Can you please point me at the 33Sq reference for I can't find it in September or October. I've passed a brief reference to long range conversion in April 1941 involving 274 Sq - retaining armament.
Later, 274 was used for long range operations to Crete in the final stages of the evacuation. A description of the aircraft is on page 196 but it does not go into detail about the engineering of the tanks. Nothing appears to be incompatible with the fixed external ones. |
#19
|
||||
|
||||
Re: Long-Range Hurricane II (internal tanks)
Hi Graham
I'll get you the reference tonight. Regarding external tanks, that's almost certainly the answer then. All the best Andreas
__________________
The CRUSADER Project - Research into Operation CRUSADER 1941/42 |
#20
|
|||
|
|||
Re: Long-Range Hurricane II (internal tanks)
There is a reference to 33 Sq with long-range Hurricanes in early November (P305, November 13th) which talks of the severe effect of the tanks on aircraft performance, which certainly does point to the external tanks.
Last edited by Graham Boak; 16th July 2012 at 19:26. |
Tags |
hurricane, no. 33 squadron, western desert |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
Luftwaffe losses in the east 20-30.01.1945 | AreKal | Luftwaffe and Axis Air Forces | 36 | 20th April 2021 14:28 |
want to find out about a JG26 officer... | NickM | Luftwaffe and Axis Air Forces | 8 | 19th May 2011 17:57 |
German claims and Allied losses May 1940 | Laurent Rizzotti | Allied and Soviet Air Forces | 2 | 19th May 2010 11:13 |
Rudolf Mueller: claims vs actual 'kills' | Sanchez | Luftwaffe and Axis Air Forces | 26 | 21st December 2007 15:17 |
model research hurricane vokes air filter/100 gal long range | Colin R Corne | Allied and Soviet Air Forces | 1 | 4th March 2005 23:05 |