RE: crashed Hurricane in Norway 1940 ?

Hello Herman. The Hurricane was from No.46 Squadron. The Squadron sailed from Scapa Flow naval base in Scotland on HMS Gloroius on 9 May 1940 and arrived at Skaanland on 26 May. It moved to Bardufoss on the 27th and started operations. Two aircraft were lost on the 29th, L1816 which was shot down by a JU-88, and L1988 which went missing near Harstad on the same day. The Hurricane in the photo was one of these. The remainder of the Squadron was flown back onto HMS Glorious, and landed on safely without arrestor hooks! Unfortunately Glorious was sunk by a torpedo on the 10 June and all 8 Hurricanes were lost. Their Serial numbers were: L1793,L18O4,L1805,L1806,L1815,L1853,L1961,L1980. Hope this answers your question.

RE: The notorious Centaurus

Hi folks, I’m new to this computing game, but I’m an old hand RAF engineer who’s worked both the Centaurus and British and American poppet valve radials. The simple fact is that sleeve valve engines were developed to get over all of the problems that were encountered on poppet valve engines! The sleeve valve mechanism may look complex, but in reality it’s not. Poppet valve engines require much more routine maintenance than sleeve valves, checking and adjusting the valve clearances on an 18 cyl engine is one of the real pain jobs you have to do on a regular basis. On balance though, provided both types are operated within the design limits there should be little difference in overall reliability. I suspect however that with racing engines, they spend a lot of there running time near to, or over the limit! The problem is that running a sleeve valve engine at extended high temperature has a tendency to distort the sleeves, and this leads to problems. The most likely explanation for the Centaurus being replaced is probably that there is a greater availability of American engines, and that American engineers feel more comfortable with them. But to my view putting an American engine in a Fury is like hanging furry dice in your Ferrari!