One Of Only Four Left In World

British auction house Bonhams will sell one of the last four remaining Sea Hurricane airplanes in existence. The 1941 Hawker Sea Hurricane XII will be offered for sale without reserve at Bonhams' annual Goodwood Revival auction on September 19, where it is expected to fetch between $55,000 - $93,000.

Hawker Sea Hurricane XIIA, BW853, was rescued from Canada by AJD Engineering in 1989 and shortly afterwards was bought by the current owners, who intended to restore it but have not had the opportunity to do so. Fully restored, the Hurricane would be worth in excess of $3.7 million.

A restored Hurricane must be proved to be 100% genuine to be CAA-registered. BW 853 is already recognized, and was registered as G-BRKE some 20 years ago. It appears on all surviving Hurricane listings with both serial numbers and its UK registration number. Most importantly, it also still retains the original data plate -- another essential item to qualify it as totally genuine.

The Hurricane aircraft was designed to Air Ministry Specification F 36/34, the prototype making its first flight on 6 November 1935. Put into production in 1936, the first production Hurricane flew in October 1937.

Although it was no longer in production when the war ended, the Hurricane was still in service as a first-line aircraft. It served on a total of 17 battlefronts; as a fighter-bomber, a Rocket Projectile (RP) fighter, a "tank buster," a catapult fighter and a carrier fighter. In 1944-45, equipped with RPs, the Hurricane was used with great effect against enemy shipping in the Adriatic, and as a fighter-bomber it served with distinction in Burma.

The Sea Hurricane went into operation in the Mediterranean in June 1942, distinguishing itself in the defence of Malta convoys, in the summer of that year.

BW853 was part of Canadian Car & Foundry's fourth production batch of Sea Hurricanes, comprising 79 aircraft. They were built in 1941 and the majority of this batch was shipped to Russia, but the Royal Canadian Air Force retained a few aircraft in Canada, for training pilots -- of which this aircraft was one.

The first record for BW853 shows that RCAF Eastern Air Command took it on charge on December 17, 1941 when it was assigned to 118(F) Fighter Squadron at Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, which looked after various Hurricanes and Sea Hurricanes, both Canadian and UK built. The Commanding Officer was Squadron Leader Molson, who is still alive today and now a senator -- part of the famous Molson brewery family. He was a veteran that served in the Battle of Britain with the Montreal RCAF auxiliary Squadron.

From there, BW 853 had a somewhat bumpy history as a trainer. In the spring of 1942, BW853 was moved to 127 Fighter Squadron and was on Command Strength at this time. The aircraft was damaged on July 24, 1942 at Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, when a pilot on his first Hurricane solo flight undershot the runway by 100 feet in poor visibility. The undercarriage collapsed, with the aircraft sliding on its belly, along the runway. The aircraft returned to the factory, and was converted to a MK XII A at the same time.

BW853 later received minor damage with No. 1 Operation Training Unit at Bagotville, Quebec, when RAF Pilot Officer M J Bailey hit a tree on a low flying exercise. He was uninjured and the aircraft was repaired on unit. This occurred on June 14, 1944.

On August 1, 1944, the plane flew for its final time when Sergeant Brown was forced to make an emergency landing in a field two miles south of St Gedion, one mile east of range, while out on Air to Sleeve exercise, landing with wheels up after apparent engine failure at 1830 hours. The aircraft received significant enough damage for it to be returned to the repair depot. Sergeant Brown was uninjured.

On August 11, the aircraft was allocated for repairs at No.9 depot but a decision to close the Operational Training Unit and wind down further pilot training, almost a year before the end of the war, was taken. So the repair card was altered to "write off" as it was no longer necessary to maintain the level of Hurricanes needed for pilot training.

BW853 was put into retirement on October 12, 1944, along with three other Hurricanes. BW 862 and RCAF 5666 remained in Canada; the first is now in storage at the Canadian Museum of Flight and Transport, awaiting restoration. The second is in British Columbia, and the third BW 881 has been restored. 

FMI: www.bonhams.com