LF363 or any other of the flying Cannon-less Huricanes painted up as Hurricane Mk.1 P3943 JU-U of 111 Squadron on 18th August 1940 when it’s pilot Sgt. Harry Newton carried on firing at a Dornier 17 after it’s gunner had hit the Hurricane and set it and Harry on fire. He baled out and the Hurricane crashed at Tatsfield, Surrey. The Dornier was forced to ditch in the Channel due to damage from Newton’s attack and previous damage. To me this is an example of bravery up there with James Nicholson but it is little known, possibly because the Dornier was able to keep flying. The author Alfred Price reunited Harry with the Dornier crew in the mid 70’s while writing his book ‘The Hardest Day’.

One of the Hurricanes was Z7015 now also flying with Shuttleworth, no idea about the other though.

I seem to recall it was said that one of the Hurricanes used in the Battle of Britain movie could never be properly trimmed out and was stodgy to fly as the result of a hurried rebuild. And didn’t Shuttleworth have a similar problem with the Sea Hurricane, which may have been due to the weight of the hook?

That Hurricane was the Canadian one that flew in the film with PZ865 and LF363, it had a cut down Catalina propeller and the ailerons had been built by eye as the rebuilder had no drawings, Vivian Bellamy mostly flew it for the film and found it flew very differently from the ones he had flown in the war. It was sold to the Strathallan Collection and rebuilt again with the problems ironed out, Hawker’s Duncan Simpson did the first and test flights. It was later sold to the Canadian Warplane Heritage but was sadly lost in the hangar fire 20 years ago-only the engine survived as it was away being overhauled.

Very impressed with the coverage given, the Scampton ceremony and the Radio 2 concert were very good. It was great to see Guy Gibson’s office restored, when they made the documentary showing the RAF aircrew of today attempting to recreate the mission flying the Lanc’ simulator it was in a very tatty state. The various presenters have made more than a few errors but it was going out on primetime BBC TV and radio to a large audience. I can remember when the anniversary came round 20 or more years ago the film would be shown on the weekend nearest to the date and it would get a mention on the news and that was usually it.

It seems Bomber Command is getting the long overdue recognition it deserves at last from the media, The BBMF were shown world-wide on the Royal Wedding coverage and when PA474 made her first flight after overhaul and painting as ‘Phantom’ it was covered extensively on the BBC News Channel.

In the chapter on 50 Squadron and the 1000 Bomber Raid in Max Hasting’s ‘Bomber Command’ he mentions a Manchester/Lancaster pilot called Tolley Taylor who unsurprisingly got through 40 cigarettes on the way out and 20 more coming back. When the odds were so high against them surviving, the health risks involved seemed trivial.

It’s great to see now that with the advances in paint mostly no-one shoots gloss paint over them which was the norm in the 70’s and 80’s, from the BBMF to the few warbirds in private hands. The argument was that it used less fuel and engine power to push it through the air and it soon looked dirty and unkempt to the public if a true war era finish was used.

I’m involved with my father’s old motorcycles aged from 100 years old to 68 years old and I’m continually amazed by what can be made or re-engineered to make any vehicle perform as intended again, P9374’s prop being the most outstanding article, presuambly now the tools and knowledge are there more can be made-at a price!:eek:

The Science Museum’s Hurricane would be your best starting point. In Len Deighton’s book ‘Fighter’ the Hurricane is mentioned, flown by Pilot Officer D.J. Looker on the 18th August 1940 who was not best pleased as his usual a/c was damaged and it had ‘fabric covered wings and a de Havilland two pitch propeller’. He and the rest of the formation were attacked by Bf109’s and he had to make an emergency landing at Croydon Airport.