| Artikelnummer:: | 40012 |
| Menge: | 1 |
In British reconnaissance aviation, as in fighter aviation, the Hurricane remained in the shadow of the Spitfire. However, where the famous PR Spitfires were in short supply, Hurricanes were used successfully. This was particularly the case where the most intense and interesting operations were taking place: in the Mediterranean and the Far East.
Serial Hurricane Mk.IIb trop fighters were converted for reconnaissance duties in two main ways. In 1941, ‘real’ Hurricane PR.IIs were being developed at the Heliopolis base in Egypt - unarmed, equipped with a set of cameras, and in place of guns in the wings they had additional fuel tanks installed to increase range. The second variant were tactical reconnaissance aircraft, called ‘Tac-R’ - which differed from fighters only in having a photo camera and an additional radio to enable communication with ground troops. They were armed, but often some of the guns were removed to reduce the weight of the aircraft, loaded after all with additional photographic equipment.
Hawker Hurricane Mk.II is a development of the famous fighter designed by Sydney Camm, created by installing a more powerful Rolls-Royce Merlin XX engine equipped with a two-stage supercharger in a standard airframe. This solution significantly improved performance. The new version designated Hurricane Mk.IIa, with unchanged armament, was first flown on June 11, 1940, and was soon followed by a variant with twelve 7.69 mm machine guns in the wings, designed Hurricane Mk IIb. Unfortunately, the small calibre of the weapon did not significantly change the effectiveness of fire, especially against armoured targets. Therefore, these machines were later widely used mainly for bombing under the name "Hurribomber", and for reconnaissance. Many of these were used operationally in the Middle and Far East.
