Radius of Hurricane Mk II PRU

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Fatboy Coxy

Airman 1st Class
134
63
Aug 24, 2019
Hi all, I'm trying to get a feel for what the operational radius of an unarmed Hurricane Mk IIB photo reconnaissance aircraft would have been.

Stripped down I believe they had a maximum speed of 350 mph. But the Mk IIb only had a range of 460 miles, and that would have been at cruising speed.

So operationally, well behind enemy lines, I'm guessing they didn't hang about, so fuel consumption would have reduced range. I know the Hurricane can have drop tanks fitted, but would you do this on a recon mission.
 
Well it wasnt enough, but all around the Hurricane wasnt very good in the role of PR, it was just better than the others at the time.
 
With the 45 gal wing tanks you could get a bit over 1000 miles. With the 90 gal tanks you could get about 1500.

Speeds would be nice and slow, pray for convenient cloud cover to dart into.

12 x Brownings + accessories + ammunition would be about 675 lb, not sure exactly what gains you'd get from ditching that (and doping over the outer ports)

*edit: the 90 gal figure is with armament + ammunition removed
 
pbehn said:
but all around the Hurricane wasnt very good in the role of PR,
Click to expand...


PR Hurricanes were actually quite efficient and were widely used in North Africa and in the CBI. The first conversions could carry two F24 cameras in their fuselage and had extra tankage in their wings and were used in tactical recon roles, where their performance proved useful. Yes, they were working alongside Lysanders, but also Marylands to begin with in North Africa and there are instances when carrying out tac recon in advance of the Torch landings their performance proved useful in evading pursuing French fighters.

In the CBI the Hurri proved a workhorse, photographing Japanese airfields and installations from bases in India and Burma, but issues arose, like warm air flow exiting the radiator caused condensation over the lenses, but this was fixed by containing the lenses in a dry air sealed casing. Vibration became an issue as seals supporting the cameras in their mountings deteriorated in the local conditions, but this didn't just affect Hurricanes.
 

General rule of thumb for an aircraft without drop tanks is that operating radius is usually a hair under 40% of max still air cruising range. Higher engine settings for take-off and climb (2-5 minutes) and designated reserves for high speed cruise (usually 15 or 20 minutes) and combat power (5 minutes), as well as range reserve (in RAF practice this was 20%) really eat into available fuel.

So, if the 460 mile max range for the Mk IIB is true, then you're looking at roughly 175 to 185 mile operating radius.

A lightened and cleaned up aircraft is going to be a little better - it will cruise slightly faster at a given power setting and will use a little less fuel in take-off & climb phase - but not dramatically so.

Also, I have my doubts that Hurricane Mk IIBs were making 350mph in the CBI, unless there was some major modifications going on. While the Mk IIB's official top speed was 340mph, in service examples in the UK rarely made 330 mph.

Also, I believe that CBI Hurricanes were operating with Vokes filters, which cut about 8-12 mph off top speed.
 
I only know a little bit about them in North Africa

Hurricane Photo Reconnaissance In Egypt, the Service Depot at Heliopolis converted several Hurricanes Is for the role. The first three were converted in January 1941. Two carried a pair of F24 cameras with 8-inch focal length lenses. The third carried one vertical and two oblique F24s with 14-inch focal length lenses mounted in the rear fuselage, close to the trailing edge of the wing, and a fairing was built up over the lenses aft of the radiator housing. A further five Hurricanes were modified in March 1941 while two were converted in a similar manner in Malta during April 1941. During October 1941 a batch of six Hurricane IIs was converted to PR Mark II status and a final batch, thought to be of 12 aircraft, was converted in late 1941. The PR Mark II was said to be capable of slightly over 350 mph (563 km/h) and was able to reach 38,000 ft (11,600 m).[99]​

Hawker Hurricane

The Hawker Hurricane is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was designed and predominantly built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd for the Royal Air Force (RAF). Although largely overshadowed by the Supermarine Spitfire, the aircraft became renowned during the Battle of Britain, accounting for 60%...
military-history.fandom.com
​
 
Jabberwocky said:
Also, I believe that CBI Hurricanes were operating with Vokes filters, which cut about 8-12 mph off top speed.
Click to expand...

I think the Vokes filters were for use in North Africa with the dusty climates they operated in. Some were shipped to Malaya with filters, but I think the filters were later removed?
 
Fatboy Coxy said:
I think the Vokes filters were for use in North Africa with the dusty climates they operated in. Some were shipped to Malaya with filters, but I think the filters were later removed?
Click to expand...

I've definitely seen photos of Hurricane IIs with Vokes on them in Burma, from 1943 through 1945.

Hawker Hurricane IIc 11 Squadron RAF, Sinthe Burma 1945 | World War Photos

Hurricane IIc "Hellzapoppin" 11 Sqn Sinthe
www.worldwarphotos.info

1/72 Smer/Heller Hawker Hurricane IIc IAF

Built this as part of a group build. I have been waiting to dig into my Arma Hurricane but without enough time I chose this old kit. The build itself was very straightforward. I used Tamiya acrylics, wash and some shaved graphite to accent the raised panel lines. I built this to represent KZ371 o...
www.britmodeller.com

It may have depended on location and time of year. CBI was a BIG theater with lots of variation in local conditions.
 

I've not seen a single image of Hurricanes in CBI without Vokes filters. Even the Hurris that were initially sent to Singapore in early 1942 had Vokes filters.
 
So what might the Modus Operandi of a Hurricane PRU be? Attain height over own territory and then cross over the lines at high altitude, or a low flight, climbing for height to photo, and then back on the floor. Does she cruise, but ready to run if approached?
 
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