AIRCRAFT  DETAILS

REGISTRATION — VH-HPB

MANUFACTURER — HAWKER AIRCRAFT

POWERPLANT —  1  x  3050hp Curtiss Wright R3350-26 18cyl radial engine

SPAN — 11.7M

LENGTH — 10.57M

CRUISE SPEED — 275KTS (509KM/HR)

MAX SPEED — 430mph   (692km/hr)

RANGE — 1100nm   (2037km)

WEIGHT (EMPTY)  — 9,000lbs

BUILD NUMBER —

TOAL NUMBER BUILT - 864

FIRST FLIGHT - 1953

USERS - Australia, Burma, Canada, Cuba, Egypt, West Germany, Iraq, Netherlands, Pakistan, UK

INTRODUCED - 1947

RETIRED -  1968

The newest addition to the Paul Bennet Airshows fleet is the Hawker Sea Fury FB-11 known as ‘Southern Cross’ and formerly known as the Reno Air Race competitor ‘Sawbones’.

Prior to it’s life as an Air Racer, this Sea Fury was part of the Iraq Air Force where it served from 1953 before being purchased and shipped to the USA in the late 1970s. It also spent time on the Australian airshow circuit under the name ‘Southern Cross’ - hence PBA’s decision to rename it ‘Southern Cross’ once more.

Originally fitted with a Bristol Centaurus radial engine, the engine in this Sea Fury was replaced with a 3050hp twin-row 18-cylinder Curtiss-Wright R3350-26 radial during its life in the USA. The Sea Fury is known to have been the fastest single-piston-engined fighter ever designed and built and boasts speeds much faster than most other more iconic WWII fighters.