Forget the sea-hurricane. they were limited, and fell to the wayside after the seafire came into being. What we need is something from before the seafire. Something to represent the early war. Sea Hurri doesn't do that well. Fear not, hurri fans!! This plane has 8x303 guns as well!
FAIREY FULMAR.
Directly developed from the P.4/34 light bomber of 1937 through the addition of folding wings, a catapult spool and arrestor hook, amongst other additions, the Fulmar gave the Royal Navy its first eight-gun fighter when it entered service in may 1940. Thrust into action within months protecting Malta convoys from the deck of the HMS Illustrious, the fighter provided sterling service with 11 Fleet Air Arm squadrons, particularly against Italian and German opponents in the Mediterranean in 1941-42. Aside from its use in this theatre, the Fulmar also saw action off Norway and Ceylon, and completed its frontline service as a nightfighter protecting Russian convoys in 1944-45. The last Fulmar (a tropicalized Mk II, fitted with a Merlin 30 engine) was delivered in February 1943, and by this stage of the war, most Fleet Air Arm fighter units had replaced the Fairey fighter with Seafires or Corsair Is. Aside from its frontline role, the Fulmar also proved ideally suited to deck landing training, as its vice-free handling qualities and slow stalling speed made it easy to operate 'around the boat'.
Dimensions: Length: 40ft 3in. Wingspan: 46ft 4.5in. Height: 10ft 8in.
Weights: Empty: 6915lb. Max T/O: 9800lb.
Armament: 8x .303 MG in wings, optional .303 in rear cockpi, 2x 250lb bombs under wings.
Performance: Max speed: 256mph. Range 830mi. Engine: RR Merlin VIII, 1080hp.
Production: 600
I thought of this because the Sea Hurri was mostly a lash-up of the Mk1 engine with 4x20mm. Sorry Schatzi, the 8x303 weaponry wasn't very common for the Sea hurri,
and there doesn't seem to have been many -if any- IIB's with 12x303s. So we'd just have another version of what we already have -- the Hurr Mk1 -- but with 4x20mm. To me that's boring.
This is an early war aircraft specifically designed and built for the Royal Navy (as opposed to the majority of all sea hurricanes being conversions from existing RAF planes). It's early war, but served on. It has a large wing, a long range, and a "slow stall speed" -- which hints that it could turn pretty tightly.
Specs above and quote taken from Jane's.
