gentle three-pointer. The men all round started cheering and waving as Tommy (Sopwith) and the Old Man (Camm) climbed into the Rolls and set off to welcome ‘George’ back...’ The Hawker Hurricane by Francis K Mason, Crecy 1990
315mph
That ‘tremendous roar from the Merlin’ must cer- tainly have caught the attention of people in and around Brooklands. Modern concepts of secrecy and high security regarding new defence systems seemed not to apply in that era. Eight days after the first take off Flight magazine (14th November 1935) published a report of the day’s events, whilst editions issued on 5th and 12th December carried photographs of K5083. On 6th December the Daily Express also provided a report and pictures for its readership. Another opportunity to view the aircraft came on 6th June 1936 when K5083 was exhibited at the RAF Pageant at Hendon aerodrome. Brooklands spectators were given a sighting of an early production Hurricane when it was put on display beside the Finishing Straight during a race meeting in August 1938. The prototype undertook 10 test flights at
Brooklands with a total duration of eight hours in the sky. On 7th February 1936 it was flown to the Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment at Martlesham Heath for further
assessment, which revealed a top speed of 315mph at 15,000 feet. In May 1936 the Hawker High Speed Monoplane was officially named the ‘Hurricane’. An initial production batch of 600 Hurricane Mk1 aircraft was ordered from the Hawker company on 3rd June 1936. As the threat of war increased and the drive to modernise the RAF grew ever more powerful, Hawker eventually produced 10,381 Hurricanes out of a total of 14,527. On 15th December 1937 No 111 (Fighter) Squadron RAF, commanded by Sq Ldr John Gillan and based at Northolt, received the RAF’s first monoplane fighter. ‘Hawker prototypes and most production
aircraft were assembled and tested at Brooklands, of which the largest number were Hurricanes. (Figures suggest 3,012 aircraft.) This came to an end in late 1942 and the Hawker presence faded quickly away. Hurricanes continued in produc- tion at Langley until July 1944 when the final production Hurricane, given the name ‘Last of the Many’ was flown by ‘George’ Bulman, nine years after he flew the prototype.’ Bert Tagg, Brooklands Society Gazette Vol 15 No 3, 1990
PZ865 is still flying today – with the RAF Battle of Britain Memorial Flight.
The author’s thanks to Denis Corley for his assistance.
36
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