History of AM 274

In late 1938 as World War II loomed over Europe, Great Britain was concerned
over the safety of their aircraft factories.

The Hurricane was regarded as such an important weapon to the British,
that in early 1939 the British Air Ministry contracted with
the Canadian Car and Foundry Co., Ltd.
(sometimes referred to as CCF, or CC&F, or CanCar)
of Montreal, Canada to build what would amount to a total of
1,451 Hurricanes and Sea Hurricanes.

The RCAF (Royal Canadian Air Force) had received 19- Hurricane I’s built by
Hawker Aircraft in England, before the War started. On 2 March 1939 the
British Air Ministry released a manufacturing pattern aircraft (L1848) along with
complete plans on microfilm to be shipped to Canada.

Production of the Canadian-built Hurricanes took place at the CanCar factory in
Fort William, (now called Thunder Bay) in the Province of Ontario.

The first Canadian-built Hurricane I (P5170) flew its maiden flight at
Bishop's Field, Fort William, Ontario on 10 January 1940.

The first batch of 40 Canadian-built Hurricanes were built with materials
provided by Great Britain and used Rolls-Royce Merlin III engines,
three-bladed de Havilland, Hamilton Hydromatic, propellers
and were simply referred to as Canadian Mark I’s.
These 40 initial Canadian-built Hurricanes were shipped to Great Britain
between March and August 1940.

The later, main production Canadian-built Hurricanes, were built with Canadian
materials and had their own variant designations.

The Mark X, was basically a Mark IIB with an American, Packard-built,
Merlin 28 engine, fitted with the American, Hamilton Hydromatic,
three-bladed propeller and eight-gun wings.

AM274 was one of the first Hurricanes completed, in a batch of one hundred
Hurricane Mark X's, built with serial numbers AM 270 to AM 369, in the third
production block that were built by Canadian Car & Foundry between
March 1942 and January 1943 under Contract C45.

The aircraft in this batch were allotted the serial numbers
BJ284 to BJ323 (40), BJ332 to BJ351(20) and BJ369 to BJ408 (40).
Later, they were re-allotted to fall in line with allocations to the British
Purchasing Commission in the United Kingdom.

After testing, these 100 Hurricane Mark X’s were crated and then loaded onto
flat beds to be shipped from Fort Williams, Ontario east to
Halifax, Nova Scotia where they were then loaded onto merchant ships that
sailed in convoys to Great Britain.

AM274 sailed in Convoy HX180 that was comprised of 37-merchant ships.
They departed Nova Scotia on 15 March 1942 and arrived in Liverpool, England
on 27 March 1942 without suffering any losses during the voyage.

The still crated AM274 was unloaded along with several other still crated
Hurricane Mark X's including AM271, AM272 and AM278
that had made the same voyage in Convoy HX180.
These Hurricane's were then transported south and east from Liverpool to
the Home Aircraft Depot at RAF Henlow in Bedfordshire, England.

In late 1938 the Home Aircraft Depot at RAF Henlow became
No. 13 Maintenance Unit (or 13MU) and was responsible for repairing, modifying,
and assembling aircraft that served on the front lines throughout World War II.
A little more than 1,000 of the Hurricanes built at Canadian Car & Foundry
passed through 13MU before being dispatched to front line units.

According to the Royal Air Force
AM Form 78 (Air Ministry Aircraft Movement Form 78)
AM274 was taken on charge by 13MU on 6 April 1942.
On 3 July 1942, AM274 is listed as having RIW (Repairs In Works) that were
apparently completed at 13MU by a CRO (Civilian Repair Organisation).
AM274 stayed at 13MU for significantly longer than the other Hurricanes that
were there simply to be assembled.

There is no AM Form 1180 (Air Ministry Aircraft Accident Form 1180) available in the
RAF museum archives in London to show that AM274 had been involved in any
air accident, yet the aircraft remained at 13MU for a total of seven months.

It is believed that AM274, along with AM271, AM272, and AM278 all suffered
Catagory B level damage while in transit from Canada to Great Britain.
These four Hurricanes may have been damaged by poor handling,
storage and/or rough seas during their Transatlantic voyage.

(During disassembly for restoration, it was discovered that AM274 had its port-
side, Canadian-built, landing-gear, leg fairing, replaced with a British-built
fairing. It was also discovered that the port-side trailing edge, on the center
section, had been rebuilt using various Mark ribs [Mk X, Mk IIb & Mk IIc]
while the starboard-side was built using ONLY Mark IIB ribs.
These discoveries further confirm that AM274 suffered damage that may have
contributed to the prolonged stay at 13MU in 1942.
Another bit of damage was discovered on the starboard-side, center section,
wing-attach fitting. Somewhere along the way it has been grazed by something
{a bullet perhaps?} that made an indentation in the fitting.
This particular damage could not have happened during transport without also
damaging the center section itself. Was the original center section replaced at
13MU, and only the fittings re-used?
Or was the grazed fitting salvaged off another damaged center section sent to
CC&F for re-build, and then used on the original AM274 center section?
These questions will probably never be answered with any real certainty!)

It seems quite likely that the original Merlin 28 that had been installed on AM274
before leaving CanCar, was reissued to another MU or unit during the time
AM274 was being assembled and repaired at 13MU.
By the time all the repairs had been made to AM274, she was re-engined with a
Rolls-Royce Merlin XX (41957 / A219526).

This engine was one of 500 MkXX that had been built in
Derby (Derbyshire, England) between 21 December 1940 and 18 August 1941,
as Order No. 4700 under contract B67980/40. This engine was completed on
19 August, passed on 22 August and dispatched on 23 August to Hawkers at
Langley (Berkshire, England) and most likely fitted to a new Hurricane there. After
having completed 200 hours or so, 41597 was overhauled by Rolls-Royce
Glasgow where it was completed on 28 March 1942,
just days before AM274 arrived at 13MU.

AM274 was also fitted with a Rotol propeller with three wooden blades;
and Mark IIB wings that carried twelve 7.7 mm. Brownings.
These wings had stores pylons below the wings to carry either
one-250 lb. OR one-500 lb. bomb beneath each wing.
These wings were also able to carry one-45 gallon OR one-90 gallon
auxiliary fuel tank (also called 'drop tank') below each wing if needed.
They could carry any configuration of two ~ one under each wing ~ depending
on what the needs actually were ...
one bomb and one drop tank, two bombs, or two drop tanks!

Finally, according to the RAF AM Form 78, on 28 November 1942,
AM274 was confirmed; alterations completed; air tested and she was then
ready AW/CN (awaiting collection).

On 5 December 1942, AM274 was flown west and slightly south to 10MU
at RAF Hullavington, Wiltshire, England.

Five days later it flew the short journey south and east to 76MU,
a Packing Depot based at RAF Wroughton, also in Wiltshire.
It was here that AM274 was once again crated in preparation for shipment under
lend-lease agreements to the Soviet Union.

RAF AM Form 78 records AM274 at Hull (Yorkshire, England) on 28 December
1942. We presume at the docks, where she was eventually loaded on board the
merchant ship SS Dan-y-Bryn, along with other lend lease aircraft and supplies.

N ext page >>

The Canadian Built Hawker Hurricane and
the History of AM274