The Sea Hurricane is operated by the Shuttleworth Collection and the MK1 Hurricane (R4188) is a Battle of Britain veteran aircraft. More information about R4188 is available from here.

Some interesting information linking these two machines from the web site about the Mk1:

During its lifetime, it was fitted with no fewer than five Rolls-Royce Merlin III engines, and underwent four major rebuilds. It is still powered by a Merlin III (the only other aircraft in the world to retain a Merlin III is the Sea Hurricane at Shuttleworth). It is said to be the most historic fighter aircraft to have survived the war.

During the display you could hear a difference in the two engines although difficult to tell in a blind test. The Sea Hurricane is flown in a very conservative style, no suprise considering the age and rarity (of the two). At a push, the Sea Hurricane has a softer sound.

Recorded on 2nd August 2009, Old Warden, Beds, UK. This is a quick snap I took of the Mk1 and a photo of the Sea Hurricane from July.

Hawker Hurricane MK1 R4188 at Old Warden

Hawker Sea Hurricane, Old Warden, July 2009

This recording was taken using minidisc and an AT-822 so dynamics are limited to that hardware, the mp3 version adding a few artifacts.

This is a longer recording than I usually post and has a bit of work applied to it – a windy day. The Hurricane is still filling in for the finale their whilst the spit is undergoing an overhaul (3 or so years now I think).

Recorded using a Rode NT5 into a Fostex FR2-LE with a little work in Audacity with a high pass filter, with some compression in Reaper to keep things level, but not too much.

See also

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• [post="hawker-sea-hurricane-mk1-hurricane"]