British long range fighter...twinned Hurricane?

  • Thread starter Deleted member 1487
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Deleted member 1487

How would the British have faired from 1941 on their own twinned aircraft, one that aimed to take advantage of their increasingly obsolescent single engine fighter and get the most out of it as a fighter-bomber? Any idea of what it's performance would have been?
 
hurriTwin.jpg

A tiny refinement of a drawing that is some 8 years old. One 40mm pod, plus four 0.50 Vickers were the idea for a survivable tank-buster. Note the radiators relocated in the inner wing. Extra fuel tanks in outer wings.
I don't know how much of performer it would've been. Probably a bit faster than an OTL Hurricane with same engines, with much better RoC. Talk about performance between Beaufighter II and Mossie FB versions. Instead of cannon pod, strap a torpedo for anti-shipping duties? Cannons instead of HMGs. Will need stronger U/C than the OTL Hurricane, not that is a deal breaker.

As a long range fighter, the twinned Spitfire is a much better choice.
 
How would the British have faired from 1941 on their own twinned aircraft, one that aimed to take advantage of their increasingly obsolescent single engine fighter and get the most out of it as a fighter-bomber? Any idea of what it's performance would have been?

I would rather that Hawkers focus on Typhoon TBH and stop hurricane production ASAP once Typhoon is mature and being built in sufficient numbers (some time in 1942).

However with this AC stick in 6 x 20mm HS 404 - mod outer wings for extra fuel and you have not only a LR fighter but an intermediate platform for a night fighter
 

Deleted member 1487

I would rather that Hawkers focus on Typhoon TBH and stop hurricane production ASAP once Typhoon is mature and being built in sufficient numbers (some time in 1942).

However with this AC stick in 6 x 20mm HS 404 - mod outer wings for extra fuel and you have not only a LR fighter but an intermediate platform for a night fighter
The Typhoon had problems until late 1942 as I recall, so depending on the performance of a twinned Hurricane they'd be better focusing on it from 1941-42 and transitioning in 1943. Though a twin might be a better ground attack aircraft than the Typhoon, which was it's main role. A twinned Hurricane might be able to replace the Mosquito in the defensive night fighter role, which would free it up for greater offensive action....
 
The night fighter version goes without saying.
British can use, in 1941-43, a fighter that has both long range/radius and competitive performance. With two Merlins invested, 500 mile radius and 370 mph is okay, or maybe 400 mile radius and 390 mph. The twin Hurricane with historical Merlins installed on them, I'm afraid that it will be perhaps 500 miles and 350 mph. Okay for Asia/Pacific, but don't bother for Med and ETO. Useful as a fighter-bomber, though.
Typhoon will be smaller and a better performer so it can be left on it's own for jobs where Luftwaffe can bring their best low-level stuff, like the Fw 190. Twin Hurricane can't cut it as good. Typhoon was a fighter in it's 1st year of use.
 

Deleted member 1487

The night fighter version goes without saying.
British can use, in 1941-43, a fighter that has both long range/radius and competitive performance. With two Merlins invested, 500 mile radius and 370 mph is okay, or maybe 400 mile radius and 390 mph. The twin Hurricane with historical Merlins installed on them, I'm afraid that it will be perhaps 500 miles and 350 mph. Okay for Asia/Pacific, but don't bother for Med and ETO. Useful as a fighter-bomber, though.
Typhoon will be smaller and a better performer so it can be left on it's own for jobs where Luftwaffe can bring their best low-level stuff, like the Fw 190. Twin Hurricane can't cut it as good. Typhoon was a fighter in it's 1st year of use.
What are you basing that performance on? The F-82 was considerably faster than the stock P-51. As it was the Hurricane MkIV boosted engine performance significantly over the MkII.
 
View attachment 375539

A tiny refinement of a drawing that is some 8 years old. One 40mm pod, plus four 0.50 Vickers were the idea for a survivable tank-buster. Note the radiators relocated in the inner wing. Extra fuel tanks in outer wings.
I don't know how much of performer it would've been. Probably a bit faster than an OTL Hurricane with same engines, with much better RoC. Talk about performance between Beaufighter II and Mossie FB versions. Instead of cannon pod, strap a torpedo for anti-shipping duties? Cannons instead of HMGs. Will need stronger U/C than the OTL Hurricane, not that is a deal breaker.

As a long range fighter, the twinned Spitfire is a much better choice.
Very nice design. :cool:
I think the Twin-Hurry would've done well against all German aircraft of 1941 except the 109 & 190 but if it could surprise them from above and behind, it could do em in.
Hit an run would be the best strategy against single engine fighters.
 
What are you basing that performance on? The F-82 was considerably faster than the stock P-51. As it was the Hurricane MkIV boosted engine performance significantly over the MkII.

The F-82 (any version) was not any bit faster than the P-51H. Versions of the F-82 with V-1710 were barely faster than earlier Merli Mustangs (B-K versions). Every aircraft in the ww2 worth talking about was outfitted with boosted engines. Granted, some engines were more conductive to over-boost that another, and then some countries were not on the same page with regard to hi-oct fuel, ADI, compression ratio levels. Over-boosting the engine on mid- and low altitude (= Merlins installed on Hurricane) barely adds on top speed, even if it indeed improves speed at those altitudes - chart.
What I'm looking for the Twin Hurricane is ratio between thrust and drag. Drag (as force, not as coefficient) is very much related to the wing size, shape and thickness. My guestimate is that wing area will be, in sq ft, ~260 (= left and right outer wings) + ~120 (inner wing) = 370-380 sq ft. This is along the lines of the Me 210, that sports a bit thinner wing. The 210 has streamlined exhausts and unrestricted intake, vs. draggy exhausts and obsolete float-type carb on the Hurricane. Inner wing is 19% thick on the 'TH' (if we go by historical thickness of the wing root) uniformly, that is a bad thing, especially when combined with old daddy Clark Y airfoil.
We can compare that with ~250 sq wing area (barely bigger than for a single Spitfire)for the Bf 109Z and 14% thickness there, this is why it was expected to offer excellent performance.
 

TruthfulPanda

Gone Fishin'
Wasn't the Hurricane's wing as fat as a bloated pregnant hippo and throwing more HP at the plane did not do much?
 

Deleted member 1487

Well then. At least it can replace the Beaufighter and be pretty dangerous in the Mediterranean and Asia/the Pacific.
 
Well then. At least it can replace the Beaufighter and be pretty dangerous in the Mediterranean and Asia/the Pacific.
I wouldn’t get rid of the Beaufighter. I would use the twin Hurricane as a stop-gap until larger numbers of Mosquitoes, Beaufighters and Typhoons are available. Another idea is keep the Hurricanes at home and forward deploy Beaufighters. It would make an excellent interceptor of German transports over the Med in the closing days of North Africa. I could also see the twin Hurricane deployed to India/Pacific which was low on the supply chain for the British war effort.
My question is would the RAF upgrade to a twin Spitfire?
Would the USAAF introduce an earlier F-82 or would they have Lockheed tweak the existing P-38 which would already be in the pipeline?
 
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