For the 1940s-era radial-engine Hawker Fury, see Hawker Sea Fury.

The Hawker Fury was a biplane fighter design used by the RAF in the 1930s. It was originally named the Hornet and was the counterpart to the Hawker Hart light bomber.

The Fury was the RAF's first operational fighter aircraft to be able to exceed 200 mph (320 km/h) in level flight. It had highly sensitive controls which gave it superb aerobatic performance. It was designed partly for the fast interception of bombers and to that end it had a climb rate of almost 2400 feet per minute (730 m/min).

There were two marks of Fury. The Fury I made its maiden flight on the 25th March 1931 and was issued to No. 43 Squadron later that year. The Fury II has several improvements including a 20% increase in power, a higher top speed, and a greater rate of climb. It was issued to squadrons in 1936-1937.

Three Spanish variants were ordered in 1935 which eventually took part in the Spanish Civil War, serving with both sides of the conflict. The Spanish variant had a cantilever undercarriage design and could achieve a top speed of 242 mph.

By 1939 the Fury had been phased out from RAF squadrons and replaced with, amongst other designs, Gloster Gladiators and Hawker Hurricanes. However it was still used in some foreign air forces in the early 1940s; Yugoslav Furies saw action against Axis forces in the German invasion of 1941.

A total of 262 Furies were produced, of which 22 served in Persia, 3 in Portugal, at least 30 in South Africa, 3 in Spain, at least 30 in Yugoslavia and the remainder in the United Kingdom.

General characteristics

• First flight: 25 March 1931
• Length: 26 ft 8 in (Mk I), 26 ft 9 in (Mk II)
• Wingspan: 30 ft 0 in
• Height: 10 ft 2 in
• Empy weight: 2623 lb (Mk I), 2734 lb (Mk II)
• Loaded weight: 3490 lb (Mk I), 3609 lb (Mk II)
• Engine: One Rolls-Royce Kestrel IIS 525 hp (Mk I), Kestrel IV 640 hp (Mk II)
• Maximum speed: 207 mph at 14,000 ft (Mk I), 223 mph at 16,500 ft (Mk II)
• Service ceiling: 28,000 ft (Mk I), 29,500 ft (Mk II)
• Rate of climb: 2,264 ft/min (Mk I), 2,600 ft/min (Mk II)
• Armament: 2 x 0.303 in Vickers Mk III machine-guns (Mk I), Mk IV (Mk II), provision for light bomb racks under wings if required

See also

• Hawker-Siddeley
• Hawker Hart
• Hawker Sea Fury

Further reading

• Chaz Bowyer: The Encyclopedia of British Military Aircraft, Bison Books Limited, ISBN 0-86124-258-0
• Elke C. Weale, John A. Weale and Richard F. Barker: Combat Aircraft of World War Two, Lionel Leventhal Limited, ISBN 0-946495-43-2