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1920
foundation of H.G. Hawker Engineering Co. Ltd.
as a successor of the famous Sopwith Company

12.7.1921
Harry G. Hawker died in a Nieuport Goshawk

early 1920s
Royal Airforce replaces Royal Flying Corps as an independent part of
the military structure

1922
new engineers hired to fulfil government orders
one of them Sydney Camm

1925
Hawker Fury designed which was not just a beautiful plane but
a direct predecessor of the Hurricane ( a double-decker )

1933
Camm started working on the prototype of the Hurricane
( called Fury Monoplane )


Air Ministry demanded a plane with an airspeed of about 480 kph and
4 - 6 machineguns

1934
re-structuralisation new acquirations of Hawker Ltd. which, like
the purchase of Gloster Aircraft Co. ( biggest factory in the UK )
lead to a doubling of company funds till 1937 ( 6 mio pounds )
which made the Hawker trust the strongest industrial group in
Great Britain of that time

21.2.1935
official contact about the construction of a first
prototype : High Speed Monoplane K5083 with a max speed of
515 kph at 4570 metres which should be achieved by the
Rolls Royce PV 12 engine which was renamed Merlin and served
in many fighters of WW 2

6.11.1935
silver prototype flown by P.W.S. "George" Bulman leaves
ground weighing 2460 kg ( not including Bulman ;)

January 1936
prototype grounded for problems with the Merlin engine,
smaller changes were made to stabilise the plane

7.2.1936
prototype achieves a max speed of 507 kph at 4940 metres
weighing 2572 and a min speed of 92 kph

2.6.1936
Air Ministry and Hawker signed a contract about a delivery
of 600 Hurricanes
( the same day Supermarine got a contract about 310 Spitfires )

27.6.1936
Air Ministry agreed to the official name Hawker Hurricane

1937
prototype used in the movie "Test Pilot" with Clark Gable
( prototype was in use till 1942 and was even used to defend the Langley
Hawker factory against German bombers )

19.4.1937
production started with the Hawker Hurricane L1547
( with a new version of the Merlin engine )


12.10.1937
L1547 flew for the first time after long tests with the 
new engine ( total weight 2476 kg )
it was piloted by P.G. Lucas at Brookland

 ( this model of the Hurricane did differ a lot from the
   original prototype : it had a Merlin Mk.2, a Watts twin 
   rotor Z38, three exhaust fume collectors to guide the fumes
   to the outside through three exhausts on each side of the
   plane, a changed cabin and back, a new gear cover and some
   other changed parts concerning the air management and the
   carburettor )

( weapons : four Colt/Browning Mk.1 7.69 mm in each wing with 334 shots
each )

December 1937
first four Hurricanes arrived at 111th squadron in Northolt
which was commanded by Sqn.Ldr. John Gillan
   
1938
3rd, 56th and other squadrons received Hurricanes
( again with small changes concerning the configuration because
Camm and his engineers never stopped working on the Hurricane )

until 1939
two different rotors were tested and the Rolls Royce Rotol
 was installed in the Hurricanes together with the Merlin 3
engine, new full-metal wings were constructed, new crosshairs
  were installed, bullet-proof glass and head-rest were installed

3.9.1939
Great Britain declares war to Germany
( this meant an extreme increase in demand )

1939 / 1940
Canadian Car & Foundry Corp. begins with the licensed
production of Hurricanes, tropical version designed to
serve in Africa and Asia and protect British interests
against Italy which threatened the Suez Canal,
a kind of "STOL" version with extended fuel-tanks was
designed for service in Norway,

nevertheless the Hurricane was no longer the best plane
on the battlefield, the new Messerschmitt Bf109 E-3 was
40 kph faster and had a better climbing performance
a new engine and a better weaponry had to be installed to
keep the Hurricane a good fighter

11.6.1940
after a Merlin XX was installed into a Hurricane Mk.1
( P 3269 ) it was tested in flight
this configuration was successful enough to replace some
engines in older Mk.1s with the Merlin XX under the new
name Hawker Hurricane Mk.2A, some of these
were sent to the USSR ( in spite of Spitfires which were
at that time the better fighters and were kept in
the UK to keep the air defence up ) and the new production
started

the first Mk.2As were sent to the 111th squadron which had
been the first recipient of the original Hurricanes as well
but it was already too late to use these planes in the
Battle of Britain ( nevertheless did the Hurricanes do the
 main job destroying the German bombers, Spitfires were the
better fighters but the Hurricanes were the perfect bomber
killers )

1940 / 1941
Hurricane Mk.2A Series 2 was equipped with 12 ( ! ) machineguns
to pose a bigger threat to the enemy planes but due to a lack
of Browning machineguns the old standard with 8 Brownings was
re-introduced, the intended 12 machinegun version was achieved
in the Mk.2B which was otherwise nearly the same plane as the
Mk.2A Series 1, version Mk.2B was not preferred by pilots because
it was nearly impossible to maneuvre the plane after firing
all guns ( which meant that the mechanics usually reduced the number
of guns to 10 or 8 which basically reduced the plane to version Mk.2A )

May 1941
a new version of the Mk.2B with the ability to carry 113.4 kg 
( 250 pounds ) bombs under the wings and with 10 machineguns was
tested at Boscombe Down ( which is still a testing site for top secret
NATO projects like the YF-23 or ASTRA )
this new version was constructed to be able to carry 113.4 kg, 226.8 kg
bombs or additional fuel tanks for 200, 205 or 409 dm³
these versions were also called "Hurribombers"

now that the danger of German operation Sea Lion was over and the Battle
of Britain won, Hawker was able to begin the construction of a Hurricane
with cannons instead of machineguns which was already intended for the
Mk.2B but could not be realised because of a lack of guns and the
necessary change of production which was not possible during the constant
German attacks

the new Hurricanes got the mark Hurricane Mk.2C and were equipped with
cannons Hispano or Oerlikon ( two 20 mm cannons in each wing - but they
still had the ability to carry bombs or additional fuel tanks )
since April 1941 and till 1944 4711 Mk.2Cs were produced ( this number
includes Hurricane Mk.12 which were produced under license in Canada )
this makes the Mk.2C version the most used version of the Hurricane, it
was used in 80 squadrons ( including foreign squadrons like the Polish,
Czech or Canadian ones )

there was another version of the Mk.2C which was called Hurricane Met. Mk.2
and was unarmed, this version carried meteorological instruments into heights
of about 7500 metres - the results were used to forecast the weather conditions

nevertheless the battle tasks of the Hurricane changed from fighter plane
to low level bomber/fighter which required another change in the
armament because the Hispano cannons were very good against bombers but had
relatively no effect on tanks like the German Tiger
the cannon of choice was the Vickers S 40 mm cannon with 15 shots per cannon
( this cannon had been tested in the Vicker Wellington bomber already )
the version carrying these cannons was called Hurricane Mk.2D, it was based
on the Mk.2A Series 2 but had only two machineguns left ( these were meant
to shoot flares at the target to enable the pilot to hit the target better )
   
March 1942
first Mk.2Ds were delivered to front units which caused problems because there
were not enough bullet-proof parts to protect the pilot and the plane during
low level attacks which was compensated by additional 167 kg of bullet-proof
material ( there was again a tropical version with a special filter which
was capable of maneuvering at 4g with a weight of 3874 kg )
most of the 300 Mk.2Ds were used in the Near East and Africa and this time the
first planes went to the 6th squadron in Shanduru, Egypt
those which stayed in the UK flew with the 164th and 186th RAF squadrons

the next version was tested as version Mk.2E with Merlin 27 engines and had
universal wings which meant that the armament could be changed without exchanging
the wings ( this is still state-of-the-art today ) and offered more armament
flexibility including dumb fire rockets with 8 shots per rocket pod ( two
Browning machineguns were nevertheless standardly installed )
the version was then renamed to Mk.4 ( some of the produced planes were
equipped with the Merlin 24 which had comparable results )
these planes were nearly completely produced in the tropical version due
to requirements in Africa and Asia; in the UK the Mk.4s were used in 7 squadrons,
in the Mediterranean 2 squadrons and 2 squadrons in Burma ( in Burma the
especially designed version Mk.5 was in use since 1943 with a Merlin 32 and
a quatro rotor which reached a max speed of 525 kph at 152 metres which was
the best result a Hurricane ever achieved at this height )

After the Second World War the Hurricane was used to test new technologies because of its
reliability and tolerance towards damage, which means that it could land even
with half the wing shot off.

Eventhough it was replaced by modern fighters, the Hurricane was one of the finest
fighter aircrafts ever. It was not just involved in the Battle of Britain it was
together with the Spitfire the last hope of Britain. The Spitfires hunted down the
110s and 109s while the Hurricanes took out the various bombers. 
( the Hurricanes shot down more enemy aircraft than the other 
ground and air defences together )

Thanks to Sydney Camm, his team of engineers and the innumerable pilots who
flew the different ( more than 14000 because each aircraft was unique ) versions of
the Hurricane all over the world, the Luftwaffe lost its teeth and this cleared the
way for the D-Day.

-----------------
facts taken from :


Hawker Hurricane monography by Marek Rys and Seweryn Fleischer;
AJ press 1999
   ( this is a polish publication )

Aircraft Encyclopedy published by Gemini

Planes of the World published by Bechtermünz

and various magazine / newspaper articles

------------------
   ( the normal form of writing Mks uses Roman numbers, I used arabic ones
to increase the readability; normally Mk.2 would look like Mk.II ;
thanks for your understanding )