Hawker Sea Fury Mk10  RAN

Royal Australian Navy paint scheme for Seafury suitable in  
Pacific and Korean theatres in the tempest slot.
Original file by Charles Gunst - May 2001

cheers
Ade Kelly 'flying tiger'
mar 2005

Info courtesy of Charles Gunst

History of the Hawker Sea Fury
The Hawker Fury was designed by Sydney Camm (the designer of the Hurricane, inter alia) in 1943, as a smaller, lighter version of the Hawker Tempest. It was not used in service during WWII, but might have been, if the war had lasted longer. It made its first prototype flight in February 1945. At the end of WWII the RAF cancelled its production contracts, in preference to jets. The Royal Navy continued with the aircraft, naming it the Sea Fury, and it became the Fleet Air Arm's last piston-engined fighter. 

The Sea Fury was fast, being powered by a 2480 hp Bristol Centaurus 18 eighteen-cylinder air-cooled radial engine. Maximum speed was 460 mph at 18,000 feet. An altitude of 30,000 feet could be reached in 10.8 minutes. Range without external tanks was 700 miles, and 1040 miles with two drop tanks. Service ceiling was 35,600 feet. Weights were 9240 lbs empty and 12,500 lbs loaded. Armament was four 20-mm Hispano cannon in the wings, plus underwing racks for bombs, drop tanks, and/or rockets.

Five RN Fleet Air Arm squadrons were equipped with the Sea Fury, and it saw widespread service with other navies and air forces, including those of Australia, Canada, Germany, India, Pakistan, Burma, Egypt and Cuba. 

The Royal Australian Navy Sea Furies saw extensive action in Korea, operating from the carrier HMAS Sydney. Five RN squadrons also used the aircraft in Korea, operating from HMS Ocean, HMS Theseus, and HMS Glory. They were primarily used as fighter-bombers, attacking ground targets, but there was air-to-air action. The first kill of a MiG-15 by a Sea Fury (a machine flown by Lt. Peter Carmichael of 802 Sq RN) was made on August 9, 1952.
