HAWKER FURY Mk.II

The Hawker Fury of the Michael U. Potter Collection was originally a scratch-built replica project of Canadian aviation legend and hall-of-famer, the late George Neal. George’s daring and daunting project will now be finished by engineers from Vintech Aero and will be the first Fury to fly in Ottawa and Canadian skies since 1934 when an RAF aerobatic team toured the cities in Canada, finishing their tour in a massive aerial display at RCAF Station Rockcliffe in Ottawa, just across the river from Gatineau.

The Hawker Fury was a British biplane fighter aircraft used by the Royal Air Force in the 1930s. It was a fast, agile aircraft and the first operational RAF fighter aircraft to be able to exceed 200 mph (322 km/h) in level flight. It had highly sensitive controls which gave it superb aerobatic performance. It was designed partly for the fast interception of bombers and to that end it had a climb rate of almost 2,400 ft/min (730 m/min, powered by a 525 hp/391 kW Kestrel engine).

Five Hawker Fury aircraft from No. 1 Squadron, Royal Air Force, visited Canada in 1934 to take part in Toronto Centennial celebrations and a goodwill tour of cities in Ontario and Quebec. On 14 July the RAF Furies and RCAF Siskins presented a combined display at Ottawa which attracted 25,000 spectators.

A total of 262 Furies were produced, of which 22 served in Persia, 3 in Portugal, at least 30 in South Africa, 3 in Spain, at least 30 in Yugoslavia and the remainder in the United Kingdom.