Original art print of a Hawker Fury I biplane fighter aircraft. The Hawker Fury entered Royal Air Force service in 1931, initially with No. 43 Squadron. It represented the epitome of bi-plane development, with a top speed of over 200mph, delivered by a Rolls-Royce Kestrel IIS piston engine. This performance was expensive to deliver, however, and the economic conditions of the time meant that only a handful of squadrons received the Fury; the cheaper Bristol Bulldog made up the bulk of Fighter Command's numbers at the time. Around this time, Hawker began exploring the possibility of a monoplane fighter, developed as a derivative of the Fury; this would eventually become the iconic Hawker Hurricane. The interim saw another generation of the biplane Fury, with 1936's Fury II featuring an improved Kestrel VI engine. The Fury was withdrawn from frontline RAF service in early 1939; it did, however, see action with the Yugoslavian and South African air forces in 1940.
Depicted in this illustration is Fury K5674, of No. 43 Squadron at RAF Tangmere. K5674 was nicknamed 'Queen of North and South' by pilot F/O FE Rosier (a future Air Chief Marshal) who flew her from December 1936 to February 1939, including at the Hendon Empire Air Display in 1937 and 1938. In 1939, No. 43 Squadron re-equipped with the Hurricane, and K5674 was sent to No. 13 Squadron in South Africa, where she was damaged and scrapped. Eventually she resurfaced, and in 1992 restoration works began, leading to a first flight in 2012. Today, K5674 belongs the the Historic Aircraft Collection, and is the only surviving example of a Hawker Fury in the world.
This aviation illustration by Rob Wisdom is a high quality Giclée art print on cotton-rich fine art paper.
12x16" art print shown. Cropping and title position (if applicable) may differ slightly on 'A' size art prints.
