Hawker Hurricane Test Flight 

There must be considerable "pucker factor" during a first flight, regardless of how well the restoration was done! Thanks for sharing your flight with us, Dave!!

Dave Hadfield, the finest in-flight commentator on the Internet. Thanks, Dave.

In 1985, Ginger Lacey told his mechanic "I intend to retire next year, so we'd better put you through your license, 'cos once I've gone you'll have to drag yourself out of bed & do your own blasted air tests!" He was a Yorkshireman & had a way with words. Well done Gentlemen, excellent job all round . . . now sit in the hangar & listen to her cooling as the song of the giro winds down, finish up, kill the lights & call it beer o'clock. This old mechanic feels you ALL richly deserve it. Job done . . for today : )

"What a privilege to have done this!" Absolutely! And what a privilege it is to be taken along for the ride! Thank you so much for sharing this.

A Brit here just down the hill from forward fighter base R.A.F. Hawkinge. Absolutely beautiful! What a pleasure to peer over your shoulder at a gleaming cockpit straight out of the factory. Thank you! Subscribed for more 😃☮️

My Dad flew one of those for a few months RAF late 43, then went onto Mustang III’s. He would have loved watching this.I am beginning to believe he was a better pilot than he ever let on. He was a master of understating his achievements.

I hope future generations will appreciate what you guys have done!

As an apprentice, my father designed the first Hurricane rear-view mirror; an afterthought in the original design but much requested by pilots!

Dave and crew , fabulous effort. Congratulations! I once sat in that seat in LF363 at the age of ten in 1957. My dad in air ministry and a few RAF pals were desperately rushing around Trying to stop the scrapping of these aircraft to create the nascent BBMF . My admiration for your commentary plus the superb modern video technology has made my boyhood dream at least a little bit more real thanks again !

Lovely bird and you pronounced Hurricane correctly too, hats off

That smooth take-off had me grinning like a fool. It reminded me of my first ever flight, which was in a de Havilland Chipmunk, so smooth it took a second to realise we'd lifted, and the unique feeling you get when finally freed from the ground. Thank you for sharing this wonderful aircraft with us.

Thanks to all involved for keeping these birds flying!

The plane looks like a new. It's probably the closest one could be, as a factory test pilot. I just can't believe how clean and perfect every thing looks. Excellent restoration.

My grandfather would be so proud of you guys. Awesome to see it fly again. Wished i could have been there but maybe next time you guys fly it i can!

What an absolute delight, a beautiful aircraft and tribute to the design and restoration of an icon. Thank you for flying and sharing this experience with us.

I've seen a lot of these type of videos but that's the first with such perfect in flight dialogue that shows what the pilot is doing and describes in detail what the procedure is. The best ! BTW, beautiful Hurricane.

My father flew one or two Hurricanes from that Sqn (242) in Malta. They flew whatever airframe was left serviceable, and there weren't many. Only about 13 Hurricanes left in Feb / March '42 against the LW and Ities.

Incredible, well done to you all. I live in the UK on a development called, Kings Hill, in West Malling, Kent. Formally RAF West Malling, where we had a Squadron of Hurricane’s based here. I had coffee earlier today in the old Control Tower! A great job. Thank you.

She's a beauty for sure. I saw a hurricane flying many years ago at Thunder over Michigan and I'll never forget it. This is the perfect last video of the night before going to bed. Thanks for posting this..

Just beautiful. Thanks for taking us along for the ride.

They had one on call at the base where my father was instructing at the start of the war. Their best students were allowed its use at the end of their course. Later had one for local use in the western desert and later Italy, where he has CO. Flying Mossie recce missions. He loved it and preferred it to flying the Spitfire. He said it would take a hammering and still fly beautifully.

Thanks for posting this. The quality of the restoration work is evident just by looking at the cockpit pictures. A beautiful bird, flown by an excellent pilot.

What a beautiful restoration, hats off to the people involved. So good to hear the verdict and acknowledgment of their work from the cockpit. My uncle flew Hurricats, off merchantmen as convoy protection. Apparently the catapult launch was a bit nerve wracking but quite a thrilling ride. On the other hand, having no way to land, other than by ditching the aircraft into near freezing waters, hopefully in the path of the convoy to ensure some chance of getting picked up, was less enjoyable. He loved the Hurricane.

The best, and I think only....? in cockpit test flight video of a MIGHTY warbird I've seen. Brilliant stuff, and thank you all for bringing back to the air an aircraft worthy of far better things than sitting as a static display 👍. Cheers Pete'.

That pre-flight check took forever…BF-109s coming over the channel….the Hawker Hurricane is still my favourite fighter. Lest We Forget.🇬🇧🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🇨🇦🇨🇿🇫🇷🇲🇨🇦🇺🇳🇿🇿🇦

What a great video a real insight into these wonderful machines. My Dad worked in the factory at Langley nr Slough UK. As a plane mad 14 year old he said his eyes nearly popped out on his first day working on the latest fighter technology of the day. Highlights were visits by Roland Beamont who usually gave a good ‘beat up’ before he left, sadly stopped by the local council!! Anyway best wishes for continuing development of this beautiful restoration

I really appreciate these technical videos where you take the time to go through procedures and such with comments!

Explanations with captions is what an air enthusiast wants , a very informative video , respect from India

Thank you for honouring Willie McKnight.

There was a period of time here in the 90's when where the town I grew up in had a plethora of amazing pilots and although not this particular aircraft, there were Winjeels, CT4's, Trojans and rogue DC3's that came in for repair and operated in the local area ( we used to have dog fights off the break wall and had formations for ANZAC day ) and this sort of footage is both nostalgic and encouraging that there are operators, owners and engineers out there that have both the passion and the skill to keep these old ladies flying....Cheers from Australia!

Excellent point by pilot/narrator. Always be sure brain is fully engaged. I tend to forget that one.

You lucky lucky B'stard! - Great flight, great talk through, great warbird!

Magnificent job to the entire crew. I really enjoyed watching this from the pilots perspective. I have often wondered what it was like to fly as one of my uncles was a Hurricaine pilot with No 1 Squadron SAAF in the western desert in 1942. He had some memorable experiences. I believe they flew either the Mark 1 or Mark 2 Hurricaines then.

My Uncle worked on these in Malta! It shot down more planes than the famous Spitfire. This plane doesn't get enough love.

Always loved the Hurricane, the great spitfire took all the glory. Great vid.

I have loved Hawker Hurricanes ever since the first time I saw 'Angels One Five'! Beautiful restoration! ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧

That was brilliant. What an experience that must have been, and thanks for sharing it. I once read that the Hurricane was a great plane because it was so well mannered even newly minted wartime pilots could fly it quite well and achieve combat results.

That was wonderful to watch. Big props (no pun intended) to everyone keeping beautiful old aircraft like these still flying!

Superb, well done to all involved..another Hurricane in the air is not just a good thing..its a GREAT thing to achieve !

From the horizontal brackets on the outside front of the fuselage to hide the bright exhaust stubs it looks like this one may have been a night fighter. A beautiful restoration on a beautiful aircraft and you really greased it on smoothly in the landing.

The highlight of my PPL training (Sywell in an AT3) - was doing my stall training. We had sought out a clear area surrounded by some clouds, and had completed a couple of practice stalls. Ascending for a third, doing the HASELL check etc. looking up at the blue sky above and clear view of the terrain below, all of a sudden, a Hurricane appeared out of the clouds heading straight past us on the starboard wing. Close enough to see the pilot. To experience what it must have looked like - things happen very quickly, blink and you miss it! - to a German pilot in WWII was such a thrill!. My instructor was more animated than I was!

Congrats to everyone involved in making this plane take to the skies like that.

Always amazed watching WWII fighter videos like this...There's so much going on...and yet in the early 40's young boys were told 'now go and try shooting another aircraft in it!'...some hadn't even passed their car test....Brilliant video....Great insight and kudos testing an old kite for the first time...I woulda needed dark brown trousers first!

Thanks to you and all of the people who were able to bring life to such wonderful airplanes, hope to see it up close one day.

Gosh!!! This Hurricane looks like it left the assembly line yesterday.

Beautiful. I live a few minutes walk from the site of the old Hawker factory in Kingston, London where they used to build these. Only one of the original buildings remains, I think it's used for offices now.

Need another pilot? Very nice job, fellas. From a retired RCAF pilot.

Always a pleasure to assist to an old warbird's rebirth ! Thank you !

So nice to see one of these iconic aircraft preserving history well done from over the pond (uk) !

Excellent! Glad it all went well, many thanks for posting, Chris B.

Wow! This was really really great viewing, what a beautiful plane! Thanks for this

The Spitfire always takes the glory, but for me it will always be the Hurricane. Beautiful, Beautiful Machine.

Excellent video Dave! Very talented engineers on that restoration Great job all involved!!

Congrats on the fine restoration to flight. Viewers might like to know that the paint scheme is that of Canadian 'ace' Willie McKnight, of 242 'Canadian' Squadron, RAF Fighter Command. By the way, I heard today that another Canadian 'ace', 'Stocky' Edwards, has passed away, at the age of 100. RIP

What a beautiful restoration of a magnificent airplane. The unsung hero of the Battle of Britain

A good friend of mine, who has passed, was a B-17 pilot in WWII. He flew dozens of harrowing missions over Nazi-occupied Europe, and each time he returned his aircraft and as many of his crew that had not been killed. Shortly after VE day he was on the base awaiting orders to go home when a friend of his who was an RAF fighter pilot in a squadron that shared the base, asked him if he might like to fly his Hurricane to see what it's like. Now, the Hurri was always considered to be a very polite and mannerly fighter, not at all a handful or as tricky as perhaps a Spitfire might be. Well, my friend told me that he pondered this and was sorely tempted, but he declined with thanks. When I asked him why, he said, "You know, there I was, having survived that terrible, war, seen a lot of death and terrible human anguish. I realized that to fly that already legendary airplane would be a thrill, but that I also just might break my neck, be killed or horribly crippled having had no training or experience flying it. I decided to let things remain as they were, to go home in one piece and to live the rest of my life." He became an airline pilot and lived to be 93, Zeus bless him. Overall, I think he made the right decision. He said that he didn't regret making it, but I think he sometimes wistfully wondered what it might have been like. However, if I had been given that once-in -a lifetime opportunity, I don't know that I would have been so carefully conservative.

What a detailed and well explained video. Seriously impressed!

Very cool. Thanks for introducing us to the owner and all of the support staff. Classy move.

Fantastic! I'm in awe. This is my favourite aircraft, and here you are sharing what must a phenomenal experience with us. Thank you so much, sir!

Over too soon. What a jewel.

Thanks for sharing Dave. Always learn so much watching you.

Awesome footage of this beautifully restored Hurricane, thank you for putting another one back in the air.

Thanks for posting this video. It's great to see what actually happens during a test flight.

Great airplane, great restoration, great flying and a great video!

Outstanding! Thank you!

Fantastic video! Love the in-flight commentary!

What a beautifully informative video…can’t wait for the next test flight

Fantastic video! Thank you for sharing.

Love your videos and narration! A joy to watch! Merci!

What a beautifully restored Hurricane and interesting to see the technical nature of a test flight on this kind of aircraft.

Thanks dave for this video! Hurricanes are my favourite fighters in history, so seeing one in such pristine condition is joy to my eyes!

For me, an armchair pilot, it was a very exciting ride. You guys to great work with these old birds!

Beautiful job - both the restoration and the flying.

Awesome Dave.

Wow. Just Wow! Thanks for taking me on this flight!

OMG that was amazing Dave! Thank you for sharing this test flight. You are living my dream!

Wow , fantastic ! Well done to all involved

Such a good video, thanks for the in cockpit camera angles too. Please do some more. 👍👍👍

Looks like a beautiful and effective restoration.

Many thanks for sharing the experience!

What an excellent, descriptive video. Beautiful test flight, beautiful plane. Congratulations to all.

Really nice H cane thanks for the ride! Awesome restoration. Some talanted guys built that beauty.

Flippin sweet video! Thanks for sharing.

Magnificent Dave! This wonderful vid brought back my lifetime dream flight in the 2nd "seat" of Graeme Frew's Yak-3, last year at the Hood Aerodrome Warbirds Airshow. The Hurri is just Beautiful!

Excellent. Thank you for posting.

Wow! Awesome job from all concerned...congratulations guys! 👍🏻😃

Sweet plane, sweet take-off, and a super sweet landing. Beautiful.

Amazing how late one can arrive at a party - me! That was fabulous.

I applaud each and everyone on the project!!

Fantastic to see on of these back in the sky

Thanks to share this moment with your team this Veteran and us who stay on the ground. Great Job ! Fred (France)

That was my first flight in a Hurricane (as near as I'll ever get) . Thanks to everyone involved in bringing this beauty to life and on our screens to share the experience. All the very best from Scotland :o)

This amazing film took me from spectator to pilot's view and back all the way through seamlessly. Great flying, great filming and skilful editing. What a pleasure to watch.

Fabulous effort and superb video. Many thanks!

Loved flying with you!

She lifted so smooth, it was barely Visible! What a treat - THANK YOU from Europe

Excellent and detailed video. Great combo if interior and exterior footage. It makes you feel like you are there.

What a pleasure. No extraneous music or sound effects, informative explanations and descriptions told so its easy to understand. Thank you!

What a great video of a beautifully restored great plane. Excellent narration from a guy who is in tune with the enthusiast viewer.

This is superb, the commentary adding even more. Wonderful airplane 👍🏻