Hangar 11 Hurricane rebuild

Ahah, cheers – always wondered if the guns could fire forwards, didn’t think about the synchronisation problems with the prop though

Did the gun button actually do anything, or was it just easier to use the same sort of spade grip as on the Spitfire/Hurricane etc instead of making a new one without the button?

Funnily enough the same question came up recently over on WIX:

Hi James,
Not the answer but I seem to remember reading somewhere, that if the gunner was seriously wounded, it was his job to ensure that the turret was positioned with the guns point forward, so that the pilot would then be able to continue the fight!

Is this a myth as well?

Hi Tony! Mostly. It’s pretty clearly self-denying. Firstly it wasn’t possible to fire through the arc of the prop (although the guns could be trained either side of the front cockpit, pointing directly forwards!) as the guns couldn’t be synchronised (pretty obvious, really) and any gunner would be unlikely to regard such an action as more vital than trying to stay alive; either by self applied first aid or by bailing out (hard enough to do…)

In the event of pneumatic or electric failure, the gunner was expected to (slooowwly – gearing) wing the turret to aim forwards and guns above the prop arc when the pilot could fire them. One in a million chance, but a good opportunity for a Commando Comics level story to start… But they thought it a chance, so the pilot DID have a gun firing button on his spade grip.

Cheers,

while the Defiant is another type that might seem odd to see with a spade grip and gun button.

Did the gun button actually do anything, or was it just easier to use the same sort of spade grip as on the Spitfire/Hurricane etc instead of making a new one without the button?

That Hangar 11 website is certainly improving each time I visit it. Nice pics and very usefull site.

Thanks for the HU 11group.

Stieglitz

hi james,

answer your bloody emails:)

😮

Should be tonite.

hi james,

answer your bloody emails:)

I thought it was only the Spitfire that had the spade grip and not the Hurricane…

The spade style grip was pretty standard on British single engine types of the period. Nimrod and Fury, as well as most W.W.II fighters had them. The IWM had some lowlife hacksaw off the spade grip on their Swordfish when under restoration at Duxford – probably to sell on e-bay as ‘Spitfire’, while the Defiant is another type that might seem odd to see with a spade grip and gun button.

Hi 11group,

Thanks for posting about the latest photos added to the website.

Great to see shots showing such good detail of the Hurricane’s structure.

Regards,

I thought it was only the Spitfire that had the spade grip and not the Hurricane… http://www.hangar11.co.uk/uploads/Img_0213.jpg