Sea Hurricane and the prohibitive weight of folding wings

[fastmongrel]

A part built 1/72 scale Arma Hurricane mkII with a 1/72 scale Bristol Beaufighter Hercules cowling. The Hurricane is a slim bird and the Hercules is her fat mate. There's a lot of work to fit the Hercules.

 

[K5083]

You'd do it like the LaGG-3 into La-5 re-engine. Use the area at the sides to dump the cooling air and exhaust. Put any cooling flaps in there to control the throughput. Just like a Fw190, La-5 or Ki100. Except it's still a Hurricane. It would, I guess, climb better but not be much faster. Oh, and you can have a four-bolt mounting to fit a merlin 20 power egg or the Herc, like the Beau and Lancaster did. Lose the belly radiator and have a central stores pylon too.

 

[swampyankee]

Which includes bureaucrats on the same side.

...some of whom wear uniforms. Also, some of those bureaucrats (the ones in uniform) are the ones which specify obsolete aircraft, e.g., the CR.42

 

[Shortround6]

A part built 1/72 scale Arma Hurricane mkII with a 1/72 scale Bristol Beaufighter Hercules cowling. The Hurricane is a slim bird and the Hercules is her fat mate. There's a lot of work to fit the Hercules.
View attachment 576832

I want to see where the carb intake winds up

I do wish this idea of the Hurricane carrying a center line bomb rack would go away. Doesn't matter if the radiator comes or goes. If you can't retract the landing gear with a centerline bomb or drop tank

 

[Admiral Beez]

I do wish this idea of the Hurricane carrying a center line bomb rack would go away. Doesn't matter if the radiator comes or goes. If you can't retract the landing gear with a centerline bomb or drop tank

Agreed. Besides, bombs under the wings are more than sufficent.

 

[RCAFson]

Alternate engines for the Hawker Sea Hurricane:

Historical: Merlin III and 12lb boost = 1310hp at ~11k ft and 16lb boost = 1440hp at ~7500ft.

Alternatives:

Merlin 30 = 12lb boost and 1360hp at ~6500 ft or 16lb boost and ~1500hp at ~4000ft.

Merlin 32 = 18lb boost and 1640hp at ~2500ft.
Merlin 24 similar but two speed (see Merlin 20)

Merlin 45 = 12lb boost and ~1350hp at ~17k ft, or 16lb boost and 1510hp at ~13K ft.

Merlin 20 = 12 lb boost and ~1350hp at ~6000ft / 19k ft or 14/16lb boost and 1485/1490hp at ~7k ft and 13k ft.

For CCF HSH:

Allison V1710 = 1150hp at 11K ft.

It is interesting to speculate on Fulmar performance with the Merlin X or 20.

 

[fastmongrel]

It is interesting to speculate on Fulmar performance with the Merlin X or 20.

It would climb better and probably be able to lift a bigger bomb or fuel load but I cant see it doing much for the speed. The MkII Fulmar had an extra 200 hp over the MkI but didnt go much faster about 10mph iirc.

 

[RCAFson]

It would climb better and probably be able to lift a bigger bomb or fuel load but I cant see it doing much for the speed. The MkII Fulmar had an extra 200 hp over the MkI but didnt go much faster about 10mph iirc.

Fulmar I/II FTH was optimized for very low altitude and at these low altitudes, I agree that there's going to be little difference, however at higher altitude we should see a dramatic boost in performance, and a modest speed gain over the low altitude Vmax. Granted, this might not matter in many cases, but it would make it easier to intercept high altitude snoopers, for example.

 

[nuuumannn]

I agree that there's going to be little difference, however at higher altitude we should see a dramatic boost in performance, and a modest speed gain over the low altitude Vmax.

Waste of time though. By the time you've done all this, Joe Smith has fitted a Griffon to the Spit Mk.IV DP845 and flown it in 1941, which set up a chain of events getting a Griffon into a far more worthy airframe.

In July 1942, DP845 was placed in a competition of sorts between a recently captured Fw 190 and a Typhoon as a comparison, at Farnborough and Jeffrey Quill was asked to fly the Spitfire. The thing is, no one present except Smith and Quill knew the Spit had a Griffon under the hood. Quill's own recollection of the event from his autobiography, Spitfire A test Pilot's Story:

"On reflection the general scheme became clear. The Spitfire was to be a sort of datum pacemaker - 'Mr Average Contemporary Fighter' - and its job would be to come in last, the real excitement of the proceedings being by how much it would be beaten by the FW 190 and the Typhoon, and which of these two bright stars would beat the other and by how much.

Outside on the tarmac at Worthy Down stood the inoffensive-looking but highly potent DP485... All went according to plan until, when we were about halfway between Odiham and Farnborough and going flat out, I was beginning to overhaul the FW 190 and the Typhoon. Suddenly I saw sparks and black smoke coming from the FW 190's exhaust... and I shot past him and never saw him again. I was also easily leaving the Typhoon behind and the eventual finishing order was, first the Spitfire, second the Typhoon, third the FW 190. This was precisely the opposite result to that expected, or indeed intended. It certainly put the cat among the pigeons and among the VIPs."

 

[RCAFson]

Waste of time though. By the time you've done all this, Joe Smith has fitted a Griffon to the Spit Mk.IV DP845 and flown it in 1941, which set up a chain of events getting a Griffon into a far more worthy airframe.

In July 1942, DP845 was placed in a competition of sorts between a recently captured Fw 190 and a Typhoon as a comparison, at Farnborough and Jeffrey Quill was asked to fly the Spitfire. The thing is, no one present except Smith and Quill knew the Spit had a Griffon under the hood. Quill's own recollection of the event from his autobiography, Spitfire A test Pilot's Story:

"On reflection the general scheme became clear. The Spitfire was to be a sort of datum pacemaker - 'Mr Average Contemporary Fighter' - and its job would be to come in last, the real excitement of the proceedings being by how much it would be beaten by the FW 190 and the Typhoon, and which of these two bright stars would beat the other and by how much.

Outside on the tarmac at Worthy Down stood the inoffensive-looking but highly potent DP485... All went according to plan until, when we were about halfway between Odiham and Farnborough and going flat out, I was beginning to overhaul the FW 190 and the Typhoon. Suddenly I saw sparks and black smoke coming from the FW 190's exhaust... and I shot past him and never saw him again. I was also easily leaving the Typhoon behind and the eventual finishing order was, first the Spitfire, second the Typhoon, third the FW 190. This was precisely the opposite result to that expected, or indeed intended. It certainly put the cat among the pigeons and among the VIPs."

Well...none of Joe's Griffon Seafires were ready for carrier ops until 1945, and the FAA couldn't wait that long.

 

[nuuumannn]

Well...none of Joe's Griffon Seafires were ready for carrier ops until 1945, and the FAA couldn't wait that long.

True, but lets not forget the Firefly was powered by a Griffon as its replacement, there's no need to modify the Fulmar, also the (Merlin engined) Seafire Ib entered service in June that year offering the single-seat fighter performance the FAA had wanted since before the war. Lets not forget that within a year the Firefly, Hellcat and Corsair entered FAA service.