P'raps ... but, for now, I'm still on orphans from the 100th Anniversary of the RAAF GB.
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"The wind blows wherever it pleases" - From Hurricane to Gale
In 1939, the British Air Ministry wanted potential alternative powerplants for key aircraft types. Hawker Aircraft is asked to prepare designs for Hurricanes other than the big-demand Merlin. After the Bristol Taurus was eliminated, the project firmed up as the 'Hercules-Hurricane'. By this time, the new Ministry of Aircraft Production (MAP) takes over the requirement. But MAP was also mandating priority production of Hurricanes at Brooklands. To free up Hawkers, responsibility for the 'Hercules-Hurricane' was passed on to the firm's subsidiary, Gloster Aircraft.
With Gloster's new chief designer W.G. Carter otherwise engaged, the task of re-stressing the Hurricane airframe for the big radial engine was passed on to H.E. Preston in the Hucclecote Drawing Office. Howard Preston quickly discovered that more than a straightforward conversion was needed. The Bristol Hercules radial engine weighed 600 lbs more than the original V-12 Merlin. Accordingly, Preston undertook a more thorough redesign of the Hurricane airframe. From the revised firewall forward, the design was entirely new. Behind that firewall, the Hurricane design remained largely unchanged.
However, it was found advantageous to reposition the cockpit one frame aft. This was done primarily to shift the c/g aft to account for the heavier engine. However, it also freed up space for an enlarged fuselage reserve tank - now holding 50 Imperial gallons of fuel vs. the original 28 gallons. These changes were applied to V6799 - a Gloster-built Hurricane Mk.I which had been damaged by an engine fire. Cheekily rebranded as the Gloster Gale, the re-engined fighter was dispatched to the Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment.
Top Gloster Gale as originally trialled by the A&AEE at Boscombe Down. Note the standard Hurricane fin and the large intake for the Bristol Hercules' updraught carburettor.
The A&AEE recommended an enlarged rudder to cope with a more powerful engine. With a tailplane redesign required, Howard Preston took the opportunity to delete the Hurricane's lower strake to allow the original, retractable tailwheel to be reinstated (although, in fact, the original tailwheel would remain in place). Lateral stability was improved with the new fin and rudder assemblies in place but MAP was losing interest in the 'Hercules-Hurricane'. Gloster's priority was now beginning production of Hawker's new Typhoon fighter. It was then decided to transfer the entire Gloster Gale project to Australia.
Whirls the Willy-Willy Down Under
In October 1941, the prototype Gloster Gale conversion arrived at Port Melbourne (along with multiple sets of surplus Gloster-built Hurricane Mk.I wing panels). It was assumed that the simpler structure of the Hurricane airframe would make local production simpler than introducing the stressed-skinned Beaufort bomber. Completed Gales were initially envisioned as ground attack aircraft for the Western Desert. As Italian resistance in North Africa faded, thoughts shifted towards the Gales being supplied to the RAF at Singapore. There was just one impediment to these lofty plans - as delivered, the Gale prototype had been shorn of its engine. Worse, it looked doubtful whether any Hercules could be spared for the Gale (priority having been given to the Beaufort).
With the aviation industry burgeoning at Fisherman's Bend, it was decided to start a new division of the Department of Aircraft Production to produce the Gale. Accordingly, the somewhat unimaginatively-named Government Aircraft Factory division of the DAP was established at Essendon, Victoria. While the plant was being constructed, the DAP's Beaufort Division took on the challenge of making the Gale conversion airworthy. The most powerful engine available in Australia was the Pratt & Whitney R-1830 radial being built by CAC for the Beaufort. Although less powerful than the Hercules, the R-1830 was the logical choice for Australian-made Gales.
Bottom Gloster Gale being fitted with an R-1830 engine by the DAP Beaufort Division at Fisherman's Bend, VIC, late December 1941.
(To be continued ...)
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