Hawker Hurricane

Military flying is the pillar of Canadian aviation. The military gave thousands of young Canadian aviators their start and provided Canadian manufacturers invaluable experience in the design and production of modern aircraft. In early 1934 Hawker Aircraft of Great Britain began designing a monoplane fighter to be powered by Rolls-Royce's latest engine. The aircraft, soon to gain fame as the Hurricane, first flew on 6 November 1935. One R.C.A.F. squadron and one squadron of Canadians in the R.A.F flew Hurricanes in the Battle of Britain. The aircraft quickly became outmoded as a daytime fighter but proved useful for other tasks. For instance, the R.C.A.F used it as a night tighter and for train strafing and shipping attacks. The Canadian Car and Foundry Company of Fort William, Ontario, produced 1451 Hurricanes. The aircraft illustrated on the stamp are Canadian-built Hurricanes from R.C.A.F. No. 1 Fighter Squadron, one of the units that participated in the Battle of Britain. The military aircraft stamps were designed by Robert Bradford and Jacques Charette. Mr. Bradford prepared the paintings that appear in the typographic format designed by Mr. Charette.