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Subject: Hawker Sea Fury
Date: 3 Jul 2018 04:47:00 -0700
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawker_Sea_Fury
The Hawker Sea Fury is a British fighter aircraft designed and manufactured by
Hawker. It was the last propeller-driven fighter to serve with the Royal Navy,
and one of the fastest production single seat piston-engined aircraft ever
built. Developed during the Second World War, the Sea Fury entered service two
years after the war ended. The Sea Fury proved to be a popular aircraft with a
number of overseas militaries, and was used during the Korean War in the early
1950s, as well as against the 1961 Bay of Pigs Invasion of Cuba.
The Sea Fury's development was formally initiated in 1943 in response to a
wartime requirement of the RAF, thus the aircraft was initially named Fury. As
the Second World War drew to a close, the RAF cancelled their order for the
aircraft; however, the Royal Navy saw the type as a suitable carrier aircraft to
replace a range of increasingly obsolete or poorly suited aircraft being
operated by the Fleet Air Arm. Development of the Sea Fury proceeded, and the
type began entering operational service in 1947.
The Sea Fury has many design similarities to Hawker's preceding Tempest fighter,
having originated from a requirement for a "Light Tempest Fighter"; both the Sea
Fury's wings and fuselage originate from the Tempest but were significantly
modified. Production Sea Furies were fitted with the powerful Bristol Centaurus
engine, and armed with four wing-mounted Hispano V cannons. While originally
developed as a pure aerial fighter aircraft, the definitive Sea Fury FB 11 was a
fighter-bomber, the design having been found suitable for this mission as well.
The Sea Fury attracted international orders as both a carrier and land-based
aircraft; it was operated by countries including Australia, Burma, Canada, Cuba,
Egypt, West Germany, Iraq, and Pakistan. The type acquitted itself well in the
Korean War, fighting effectively even against the MiG-15 jet fighter. Although
the Sea Fury was retired by the majority of its military operators in the late
1950s in favour of jet-propelled aircraft, a considerable number of aircraft saw
subsequent use in the civil sector, and several remain airworthy in the 21st
century as heritage and racing aircraft.
With the end of the Second World War in Europe in sight, the RAF began
cancelling many aircraft orders. Thus, the RAF's order for the Fury was
cancelled before any production examples were built because the RAF already had
excessive numbers of late Mark Spitfires and Tempests and viewed the Fury as an
additional overlap with these aircraft. Although the RAF had pulled out of the
programme, development of the type continued as the Sea Fury. Many of the Navy's
carrier fighters were either lend-lease Chance-Vought Corsair aircraft and thus
to be returned, or in the case of the Supermarine Seafire had considerable
drawbacks as naval aircraft such as narrow undercarriages. The Admiralty opted
to procure the Sea Fury as the successor to these aircraft instead of purchasing
the lend-lease aircraft outright.
While the RAF contract had been cancelled, the Fury prototypes were completed
and used for work in developing the Sea Fury as well as for the export market.
The first Sea Fury prototype, SR661, first flew at Langley, Berkshire, on 21
February 1945, powered by a Centaurus XII engine. This prototype had a
"stinger"-type tailhook for arrested carrier landings, but lacked folding wings
for storage. SR666, the second prototype, which flew on 12 October 1945, was
powered by a Bristol Centaurus XV that turned a new, five-bladed Rotol propeller
and did feature folding wings. Specification N.7/43 was modified to N.22/43, now
representing an order for 200 aircraft. Of these, 100 were to be built at
Boulton-Paul's Wolverhampton factory.
Role
Naval fighter-bomber
Manufacturer
Hawker
Designer
Sydney Camm
First flight
1 September 1944 (Fury)
21 February 1945 (Sea Fury)
Introduction
October 1945 (FAA)
1947 (RCN)
Retired
1953 (FAA)
1955 (RNVR)
1956 (RCN)
1957 (MLD)
1968 Burmese Air Force
Primary users
Royal Navy
Royal Australian Navy
Royal Canadian Navy
Pakistan Air Force
Produced
Number built
864
Developed from
Hawker Tempest
Following the outbreak of the Korean War on 25 June 1950, Sea Furies were
dispatched to the region as a part of the British Commonwealth Forces Korea,
Britain's contribution to the United Nations multinational task force to assist
South Korea following an invasion by North Korea. Sea Furies were flown
throughout the conflict, primarily as ground-attack aircraft, from the Royal
Navy light fleet carriers HMS Glory, HMS Theseus, HMS Ocean, and the Australian
carrier HMAS Sydney. After a Fleet Air Arm Seafire was shot down by a United
States Air Force Boeing B-29 Superfortress on 28 July 1950, all Commonwealth
aircraft were painted with black and white Invasion stripes.
In 1952, the first Chinese MiG-15 jet fighters appeared. On 8 August 1952,
Lieutenant Peter "Hoagy" Carmichael, of 802 Squadron, flying Sea Fury WJ232 from
HMS Ocean, shot a MiG-15 down, making him one of only a few pilots of a
propeller driven aircraft to shoot down a jet. The engagement occurred when a
formation of Sea Furies and Fireflies was engaged by eight MiG-15s, during which
one Firefly was badly damaged while the Sea Furies escaped unharmed. Some
sources claim that this is the only successful engagement by a British pilot in
a British aircraft during the Korean War, although a few sources claim a second
MiG was downed or damaged in the same action. In addition, the recollections of
Sub-Lieutenant Brian "Schmoo" Ellis, the youngest member of the flight, differ
from the official version of events.
Specifications (FB 11)
General characteristics
Crew: One
Length: 34 ft 8 in (10.56 m)
Wingspan: 38 ft 4?3/4 in (11.69 m)
Height: 15 ft 10?1/2 in (4.84 m)
Wing area: 280 ft2 (26.01 m2)
Empty weight: 9,240 lb (4,191 kg)
Loaded weight: 12,350 lb (5,602 kg)
Max. takeoff weight: 14,650 lb (6,645 kg)
hp (1,850 kW) (take-off)
Performance
Maximum speed: 460 mph (400 knots, 740 km/h) at 18,000 ft (5,500 m)
Range: 700 mi (609 nmi, 1,126 km) with internal fuel; 1,040 mi (904 nmi, 1,674
km) with two drop tanks
Service ceiling: 35,800 ft (10,910 m)
Rate of climb: 4,320 ft/min (21.9 m/s)
Armament
Bombs: 2,000 lb (907 kg) of bombs
*
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