Hobby Master 1/48 HA8608 Hawker Hurricane Mk1 P3854 Sqn Ldr Peter Townsend 85 Sqn Battle of Britain

The Hawker Hurricane was the first British single-engine fighter and the first single wing aircraft with retractable landing gear as well as an enclosed cockpit and 8 machine guns. The Hurricane went into operational service in December 1937 with the RAF 111 Squadron. The Hurricane is usually over looked as a major player in the BoB because of the Spitfire but 80% of the 1,792 German aircraft shot down were because of the Hurricane. There were 14,533 Hurricanes produced in all variants.

On August 31, 1940 Sqn Ldr P W Townsend of the RAF No. 85 Squadron was flying Hurricane Mk.I P3166 when he shot down a Do-17 named Gustav Marie and was hit by return fire damaging the Hurricane making it necessary to ditch in the English Channel. After some time recuperating Townsend returned to the No. 85 Squadron on September 21, 1940 and was assigned Hurricane Mk.I P3854. After the war Townsend became friends with the German bomber gunner who shot him down and wanted to marry the sister of the woman who would become Queen of England.