Does the Hurricane catch fire?

[Moggy]

Originally Posted by 5./JG27.Farber

Hurricane fuel tanks are in the wings arnt they? with a small reseve near the engine?

That's right, 1 in each wing and the gravity tank in front of the pilot.

I'm reading a book about the Hurricane at the moment, 1 of pilots said that he reckoned most of the cockpit fires were caused by the wing tanks as opposed to the widely held belief that is was the gravity tank which caused cockpit fires.

I'll dig out the quote later.

[Sutts]

Originally Posted by Moggy

That's right, 1 in each wing and the gravity tank in front of the pilot.

I'm reading a book about the Hurricane at the moment, 1 of pilots said that he reckoned most of the cockpit fires were caused by the wing tanks as opposed to the widely held belief that is was the gravity tank which caused cockpit fires.

I'll dig out the quote later.

I remember reading something along those lines too in "Gun Button To Fire".

Some of the pilots used to fly with the cockpit open for better SA but soon stopped when they discovered that an open canopy caused wing tank fire to be drawn into and through the cockpit - through the open structure between the fuselage and the wing. For this reason, opening the canopy to bail out was a risky moment as a sudden surge of flame could rip through the cockpit as a result.

[NZtyphoon]

Originally Posted by Sutts

I remember reading something along those lines too in "Gun Button To Fire".

Some of the pilots used to fly with the cockpit open for better SA but soon stopped when they discovered that an open canopy caused wing tank fire to be drawn into and through the cockpit - through the open structure between the fuselage and the wing. For this reason, opening the canopy to bail out was a risky moment as a sudden surge of flame could rip through the cockpit as a result.

This is also stated in McKinstry's book on the Hurricane - the Mk I's fuel tanks were only isolated from the cockpit by the open wingroot structure; according to Stephan Bungay the gravity tank immediately in front of the cockpit also proved to be vulnerable and could burn like a blowtorch directly through the instrument panel; Dowding insisted that these tanks be covered with a fireproof coating manufactured by a company called Linatex and a fireproof bulhead was later fitted.

[Friendly_flyer]

I don't really know if the old Hurribird burned any more easily that the Spitty, but a fire would have very ugly consequences due to construction. The forward fuselage tank is already mentioned, and the hind fuselage was wood, canvas and paint, all eminently flammable material.

[MB_Avro_UK]

I as yet have no online experience in CoD.

But offline, when I fly a Hurricane, it never burns.

Perhaps the AI Hurricanes burn easily?

Best Regards,
MB_Avro.

[Les]

I know the subject was combat damage, but if you want to see how easily the Hurricane burns, blow up one of those large storage tanks scattered about the main map and fly through the flames. Just one pass can start a small fire that will quickly destroy the whole plane.

[CaptainDoggles]

I've had some Hurricanes light up when I shoot them, but not very often. Typically, if I manage to down a Hurri it's due to engine failure or that I've put enough holes in his wing that he can't hold a turn and spins down to sea.

I might just be a lousy shot.

[JG52Uther]

Originally Posted by Les

I know the subject was combat damage, but if you want to see how easily the Hurricane burns, blow up one of those large storage tanks scattered about the main map and fly through the flames. Just one pass can start a small fire that will quickly destroy the whole plane.

Thats interesting, I'll have to try that!

[topgum]

Originally Posted by Les

I know the subject was combat damage, but if you want to see how easily the Hurricane burns, blow up one of those large storage tanks scattered about the main map and fly through the flames. Just one pass can start a small fire that will quickly destroy the whole plane.

yes, I can confirm this! A Hurri is a TURN&BURN-Fighter, while a 109 is not

Hurri aussen Feuer.jpg
Bf109 innen vor Feuer.jpg
Bf109 ausssen Feuer.jpg

I set quickly up in the fmb a mission for testing this.
After, I did some dogfighting: 8 kills, but not one of the Hurris went down in flames! Like I said before, it is more rarely, than it happens often.