AP 118 · No. 10 Section II · Aircraft Plate 32 / 148

Plate 32 of 148 · Between the wars · Single-seat interceptor fighter

Hawker Fury I

Fury I, painted as K5674, the Historic Aircraft Collection’s airworthy Hawker Fury I, delivered in 1935 and flown with No. 43 Squadron at Tangmere as Flying Officer Frederick Rosier’s personal aircraft, shipped to the South African Air Force in 1940, recovered from South Africa as wreckage and rebuilt by Retrotec to fly again in 2012 as G-CBZP with its 525 hp Rolls-Royce Kestrel IIS, kept at Duxford: Sydney Camm’s single-seat interceptor of 1931, the first RAF fighter to exceed 200 mph, a single-bay staggered biplane of 30 ft span with a chin radiator between the undercarriage legs, shown in No. 43 Squadron markings: polished metal forward panels and silver dope elsewhere, two rows of black and cream checks on the fuselage sides and across the upper wing, type A roundels on the fuselage, on top of the upper wing and under the lower wing, a red fin with the squadron’s gamecock badge, black ‘K5674’ on the rear fuselage and under the lower wings, ‘K’ over ‘5674’ on the rudder, a red spinner and wheel discs and a black two-bladed Watts propeller, as it flies from Duxford.

3D model

Turn it over

A procedural model built in Blender from published dimensions, drawings and photographs, painted as K5674, the Historic Aircraft Collection’s airworthy Hawker Fury I, delivered in 1935 and flown with No. 43 Squadron at Tangmere as Flying Officer Frederick Rosier’s personal aircraft, shipped to the South African Air Force in 1940, recovered from South Africa as wreckage and rebuilt by Retrotec to fly again in 2012 as G-CBZP with its 525 hp Rolls-Royce Kestrel IIS, kept at Duxford: Sydney Camm’s single-seat interceptor of 1931, the first RAF fighter to exceed 200 mph, a single-bay staggered biplane of 30 ft span with a chin radiator between the undercarriage legs, shown in No. 43 Squadron markings: polished metal forward panels and silver dope elsewhere, two rows of black and cream checks on the fuselage sides and across the upper wing, type A roundels on the fuselage, on top of the upper wing and under the lower wing, a red fin with the squadron’s gamecock badge, black ‘K5674’ on the rear fuselage and under the lower wings, ‘K’ over ‘5674’ on the rudder, a red spinner and wheel discs and a black two-bladed Watts propeller, as it flies from Duxford. Drag to orbit, scroll or pinch to zoom · download .glb (827 KB)

Data plate

Specification

First flight, number built and top speed are for the whole family (); engine, crew and dimensions are for the Fury I modelled here.

History

The Fury

In the late 1920s the RAF’s fighters were radial-engined biplanes such as the Bristol Bulldog, and Sydney Camm at Hawker set out to build an interceptor around the slim Rolls-Royce Kestrel V-12 that already powered his Hart day bomber. The result, first flown as the Hornet and renamed Fury, was a single-bay staggered biplane with a metal tube frame, fabric covering behind a closely cowled nose and the Kestrel’s radiator slung beneath the fuselage between the undercarriage legs. George Bulman flew the first production Fury I at Brooklands on 25 March 1931.

The Fury was the first RAF fighter to exceed 200 mph in level flight, reaching about 207 mph at 14,000 ft, and it could climb to 10,000 ft in under four and a half minutes. No. 43 Squadron at Tangmere received the first in May 1931, followed by Nos. 1 and 25 Squadrons, and Fury formations became a highlight of the Hendon air displays. Only 117 Fury Is were built for the RAF, because the type was expensive, and the cheaper Bulldog remained the most numerous fighter of the period. The navy’s equivalent was the Nimrod, a Fury adapted for carrier flying.

An improved Fury II followed in 1936, and export Furys went to Yugoslavia, Persia, Portugal, Spain and Norway. By 1939 the Hurricane and Spitfire had replaced the Fury in front-line squadrons, and the survivors passed to training units. In 1940 a batch was shipped to South Africa, where Furys of the South African Air Force flew against the Italians in East Africa during 1940 and 1941.

This airframe

Hawker Fury I K5674 (G-CBZP)

K5674The airframe modelled

K5674 was delivered to the RAF in November 1935 and joined No. 43 Squadron at Tangmere in June 1936, where it was the personal aircraft of Flying Officer Frederick Rosier, later Air Chief Marshal Sir Frederick Rosier, from December 1936 until February 1939. In 1940 it was shipped to South Africa and taken on charge by the South African Air Force as serial 215; on 31 March 1941 it ran out of fuel and force-landed near Pitsani, and it was later sold for scrap. Its remains were found in South Africa decades later and rebuilt by Retrotec for the Historic Aircraft Collection, including new spars and its Kestrel engine; registered G-CBZP, it flew again in July 2012 (accounts of the recovery and restoration dates vary) and is now kept at Duxford. The model shows it as it flies today in No. 43 Squadron markings: polished metal forward panels and silver dope elsewhere, two rows of black and cream checks on each side of the fuselage and across the upper wing, type A roundels on the fuselage sides, on top of the upper wing and under the lower wing, a red fin carrying the squadron’s gamecock badge, ‘K5674’ in black on the rear fuselage and under the lower wings, ‘K’ over ‘5674’ on the rudder, a red spinner and red wheel discs and a black two-bladed Watts propeller. Photographs show a small tail wheel rather than the original skid, and it is modelled that way; the stencils and navigation lights are left off.

See it at IWM Duxford

Where to see one

In the gazetteer

The gazetteer records the Fury in 2 UK collections. The airframe modelled here is marked.

Every airframe and serial All 148 plates

Profiles and models are procedural interpretations built in Blender from published dimensions, three-view drawings and photographs of each airframe. Treat the museum aircraft as the reference.