The Joseph Kennedy memorial Hurricane
This full scale
Hurricane replica is the last surviving aircraft made for the classic 1969 film
the Battle of Britain.
This Hurricane will be fully
restored to its former glory, it is extremely well made on the principle of the
original Hurricanes with a centre steel frame with wood formers and stringers
covered with fabric. You will be able to see its restoration over the coming
months with regular updates on its progress. It will then be displayed along
side our Spitfire EN 398 as a memorial to Joseph Kennedy and the brave Pilots
who flew these amazing and iconic aircraft during WWII.
The restoration will comprise
of firstly removing all the old canvas which is rotten the removal of the fibre
glass nose cowlings which will be replaced with alloy. The fibreglass coverings
on the wings will removed stringers added and covered with fabric as per early
original specification. The cockpit will be fitted with an instrument panel and
controls including a working gunsight. The control surfaces on this hurricane
all move and these will be operated by the stick. It will be given a new
identity and painted in the colours of an early MK I Hurricane. At some stage in
the future it may have a working engine fitted although this is a far more
difficult proposition then our
Spitfire EN 398 as it may need
considerable strengthening and I do not want to compromise the original
integrity of the airframe.
Joseph Kennedy
Was a pioneer aviator he passed
out of Sandhurst on the 20th December 1917 and was commissioned in the 5th
Lancers. Some time soon after joined the Royal flying corp as a pilot. Along
with his brother Reginald Kennedy He went on to form one of the very first civil
airlines with the Trost Brothers at Shoreham, Walcott airlines. The airline
comprised of two Junkers f 13 s G AAZK and G AAGU. This man flew during a
time when aviation was in its infancy, the first warplanes were flimsy and
unreliable with a tendency to burst into flames at any moment, the life
expectancy of a WWI Pilot early in the War was around five weeks by 1917 when
Joseph joined it was 17.5 minutes. It is therefore fitting that this Hurricane
remains a permanent memorial of this Great Man and all the other brave aviators
of his generation.
Click here to see
pictures of the Great Man himself in action
Never seen before personal images
of the air war during WWI
The Hurricane is
rescued from the snow
Safely at her new
home
More snow in the
foreground her new sister EN 398
Safely tucked away
stripping of the old canvas reveals the quality of the original build.
Hurricane Updated
31st January 2011
All the old paint
has been removed ready for a new paint scheme and re covering.
The old wings were fibreglass and
when stripped they were in a very poor state. The wood frames were very poorly
made and it was decided to fabricate two new wings in four easy to handle
sections in wood and alloy. Both wings have now been completed.
Original frame
New build
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