Inside The Cockpit - Sea Fury

The Hawker Sea Fury, designed during World War 2 but coming into service just after the war, sits in the most inconvenient time frame for a propeller aircraft: At the top of the class, but about to be obsolete. Reason enough to have a look at this piston-engine powerhouse!
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- Sources -
A.P. 4018 A&B-P.N., Pilot's Notes For Sea Fury 10 & 11, 2nd ed, Nov. 1950
- Timecodes -
00:00 - Intro
00:27 - Hawker Sea Fury
03:36 - Walkaround
13:24 - Cockpit
19:06 - Start-up to landing
22:19 - Outro
- Audio -
Music and Sfx from Epidemic Sound

[@Ash007YT]

My uncle Frank was a wing commander in the Fleet air arm flying the Sea Fury off HMAS Sydney for the Australian navy. I didn't know him too well but he gave me his medals in 2015 as his family did not care about his military career. Thanks for the video Love this machine its one of my favourites.

[@novusregnum]

Hey Ash! You should do a video about him :)

[@asukahasegawa]

Do please cover this! I always love hearing about people's military experience through family.

[@usesrnaiyme]

Hey ash!

[@Godvana_]

A wild Ash appears!

[@arbitercs]

AAAAASH

[@RexsHangar]

"2,500 Jeremy Clarksons" - that got me good. Thanks for the amazing walk-around, the Sea Fury is perhaps my favourite late-era prop.

[@septembersurprise5178]

POWER !!!!!!!

[@zanderman66]

Thought I'd mis-heard that, so had to replay it. Nice one Chris, LMAO!🤣

[@Allan_aka_RocKITEman]

Agreed! 😊😊😊

[@johnqpublic2718]

He’s worth at least the power of three horses, so that’s like 7,500 hp!

[@hawkeyeten2450]

The only folks who disliked this video are the North Koreans and the CCP in China. Well done to the Brits on building a masterpiece. Salute from the US!

[@Drachinifel]

This was a great day 😀

[@quadri31]

nice to see Drach here

[@MilitaryAviationHistory]

Back soon?

[@Drachinifel]

@@MilitaryAviationHistory certainly :)

[@notshapedforsportivetricks2912]

Good Lord, Drach.! Do you also do gardening videos?

[@gato2]

When are you guys doing a colab?

[@barrysnelson4404]

A long time ago, a very young me was sitting in his Royal Navy Chipmunk trainer waiting for permission to take off for yet more circuits and bumps when the tower told me to hold 'cos a Sea Fury was going to 'beat up' the airfield. I close my eyes and half a century later I can hear again that thundering roar and see that beautiful creation, soaring, swooping and flashing past. Unforgettable.

[@wkelly3053]

Thank you for such comprehensive detail. Have seen the Sea Fury perform at airshows in the U.S. No other warbird is more impressive. Beautiful airplane.

[@MilitaryAviationHistory]

wow, you've seen it fly!

[@tonym480]

@@MilitaryAviationHistory I've seen the FAA Historic Flight Sea Fury at air shows several times here in the UK in years gone by. It is a beautiful aeroplane in flight with a sort of muted whistle engine note. As a footnote that may interest you Chris, I live in West Sussex not too far from the Ricardo Consulting engineering company. I have it on quite good authority that Ricardo's have provided practical assistance overhauling and returning to fight worthy condition the Bristol Centaurus engine for the FAA's Sea Fury.

[@LessAiredvanU]

One thing not mentioned but obvious when seeing the in cockpit head shots, is that the pilot seat is elevated while the canopy is open allowing better vision forward either side of the engine for deck handling and final approach. Closing the canopy results in the seat dropping for a better streamline shape while retaining good level and above visibility.

[@johnshackelford5466]

Actually, the seat height is adjusted independently from the canopy position, with a lever on the right of the seat.

[@waynester71]

Up there as one of the last..pinnacle piston engined aircraft. You know your channel has achieved greatness when you're given permission to climb all over these stunning, irreplaceable aircraft

[@MilitaryAviationHistory]

thank you :) working with Navy Wings was really great!

[@randytaylor1258]

Yes , indeed -- they trust you.

[@whtalt92]

Apart from being the first export customer, Dutch MLD also bought FB.51 Sea Furies built under license by Fokker/Aviolanda. They were pretty much identical to the FB.11, so much so that one aircraft which suffered a bird strike was repaired using a wing from an FAA sea Fury - leaving the weird look of one wing with FAA roundels and the other with the Dutch one.

[@super1daan]

What is FAA?

[@scottythedog8829]

@@super1daan Fleet Air Arm

[@robertmitchell1080]

In my view, the most spectacular piston aircraft ever built, with the iconic engine "whistle" that still gets the hairs up on the back of the neck. My first unforgettable view of one was from HMS Hermes flight deck, anchored in Torquay in the summer of '81, while working up with Sea Harriers using the new ski-jump. Both Firefly & Fury buzzed the ship at flight deck level, a spectacularly awesome sight & sound.

[@RE650NZGraeme]

And the deep low beat roar as she goes vertical in a show of power, seen in NZ at the 1995 Easter Air Show at Hamilton Airport.

[@BryanJohnson4891]

Ah. I’m currently fixing one up at the moment - hoping to hit rod the Centaurus. Thankfully it’s very popular amongst piston racers - that Centaurus can push nearly 4000 Hp with modifications. I’ll return to this comment when I’ve finished likely in a few years. Love to make a job of flying people around in it. Wonderful aircraft - such a shame Bristols obsession with sleeve valves denied us some good rotary engines in the way - this is sort of the brother of the P47 - mine is meant to be a British P47 M - one of the first jet hunters, hot rodded, as fast compared to a Me 262 as a spitfire IX was to a Focke Wulf. After this project I’ll be putting a Crecy in a spitfire - far fetched but if I can repair a broken Fury....

[@ericgrace9995]

Along with the Hornet, one of the most beautiful piston engined aircraft ever built....in my opinion ! Thanks for your entertaining and informative content.

[@johnp8131]

Excellent taste sir! I used to watch them both flying back in the sixties, on open days at De Havilland's in Hatfield. We still called it that then, even though it was Hawker Siddley by then.

[@ericgrace9995]

@@johnp8131 It's a terrible shame we have no Hornets... either on static display or flying. It's a shame that none of our post war governments saw any value in saving and conserving our aeronautical and military history.

[@TheWhoamaters]

@@ericgrace9995 The DeHav? There is one flying in New Zealand

[@ericgrace9995]

@@TheWhoamaters A Hornet ? The Sea Fury he's in is a flier. I didn't think there were any surviving complete Hornets.

[@TheWhoamaters]

@@ericgrace9995 According to wikipedia there is one Hornet left flying, restored in 2017 in New Zealand

[@PaddyPatrone]

The German Furys weren't target drones themselves. They dragged a flying target behind which then got shot. There were some incidents were furys accidentally got hit by some bullets. A couple of these German "Target Drone" Furys were later sold to owners in the US where they became highly modified reno racers. Most of todays furys/seafurys run R2800 and R3350 engines and 4 blade props. There are at least two seafurys with R4360 engines. The airframe is quite versatile regarding engines.

[@arcflight]

Target tugs then?

[@ale69420]

These videos are the only thing that brings me peace.

[@LaCorvette]

No one:... Literally no one: ... Britain: "You know these Corsairs we're supposed to pay for at the end of the war? Yeah... Would be shame if, say they were to suddenly... fall of the boat..."

[@tommot7236]

One of the finest displays I've ever seen at an air show was a few years ago by a Sea Fury being put through its paces. I believe it was at West Malling down here in Kent but can't be sure. The pilot spared nothing! We all love the sound of the Merlin I know and it is my absolute favourite aero engine ever but you haven't lived until you've heard the Centaurus on full chat in one of these! Unbelievable. I will never forget it.

[@nickz7489]

That is such a beautiful aircraft

[@oldesertguy9616]

I agree. Such a clean design.

[@iainbagnall4825]

"They would only be paying for the ones that were left over after the war" "Sorry old chap, forgot to set the handbrake and the kite just sort of rolled off the deck into the ocean when it got a bit choppy"

[@brettcoster4781]

When the British fleet arrived in Australia right after the war they pushed many F4Us and F6s overboard off the Queensland coast (I think). Unfortunately in very deep water, so there's no chance of recovery.

[@colinmartin2921]

I read a book written by a FAA pilot who said that the Americans did not want their aircraft back, but if the British kept them then they would have to pay for them, so the only answer was to push the planes overboard..

[@thebigone6071]

I wish I was a world famous historian just like you Chris!!!! You’re the best there is!

[@rokuth]

On the history of the Sea Fury, when you mentioned it being used by West Germany as a target drone. I thought they were used as a target tow aircraft, not as a drone.

[@monostripezebras]

that is correct, the DLB operated 18, some 2seaters with a winch for target towing, mostly in red paint. There were 2 modes of "zieldarstellung" only one, with a towed target was with real ammo called ZD2, a single single seat plane was also used to display a target aircraft (ZD1) without actually shooting.

[@hankw69]

Another great show. I realize that the aircraft/maintenance noise can be a pain when filming but it sure brought back memories for me of working in the hangers of the US Air Force, thanks!

[@MilitaryAviationHistory]

Hah, it's all good, I actually like it if it's a working hangar.

[@terrancecoard388]

Seeing these planes in color along with the instruments are very eyeopening. Thank You!

[@largain]

Post war british naval aircraft for the most part are stunningly beautiful

[@user-en9zo2ol4z]

I have had the pleasure of seeing one of these, both flying, and close-up on the ground. The propeller truly dominates an impression of the aircraft, so huge it is. With 5 blades and their immense length make it a stunner. I have always favoured these as among the most beautiful of WWII fighters. In HMAS service in Australia, they were used aboard our 2 carriers for much longer than other services, perhaps? Out of necessity, they remained so useful to our naval air arm, that they were still being flown in the late 50s.

[@bruceparr1678]

Magnificent streamlinig for that radial engine.

[@evanbondonno5209]

Without a doubt one of my favorite warbirds, especially cuz I saw a couple occassionally at airshows growing up. All ww2 warbirds sound great during a low pass, but Sea Furys and Corsairs, they really got my heart racing. Thanks for the great content 👍

[@billfarley9167]

I always wanted to own a Corsair. Absolutely in love with that aircraft.

[@massmike11]

The sea fury was a stone cold beast, love it.

[@paoloviti6156]

The awesome Sea Fury, without doubt the best piston engine produced in England before it was replaced by the jet fighters. Thanks for sharing this very interesting video! 👍👍

[@MilitaryAviationHistory]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@bill8791]

*The UK. England is just one nation out of the four that make up the UK. You do an injustice to the Scots, Welsh and Northern Irish.

[@guaporeturns9472]

@@bill8791 Was it built in England? Where was the plant?

[@Kidderman2210]

@@guaporeturns9472 The Hawker factories were all in England. The Bristol engine factory was in England too. So the Sea Fury was mainly "English", though there may have been some parts made in Scotland/Wales/Northern Ireland. The current Airbus factory is in Wales, and Short aircraft were built in Northern Ireland. Don't know of any Scoittish aircraft makers?

[@PeteCourtier]

@@bill8791 chill out👍

[@spitfiremark1a768]

What a fantastic look at this impressive aircraft.

[@bobdyer422]

P-47, F6F, Typhoon, Tempest, Fury. Real brawlers, and my favorite. Corsair, Beercan {Bearcat} & 190 I like also, but just not Heavy Brawlers. I really enjoyed the wing fold view, thanks for taking the time to show it. Excellent detail cockpit review. Great job!

[@FrankC321]

During a previous career, working on helicopters, noticed the engine gauges having color coded painted on the face of the instruments to indicate normal (green), warning (yellow), finally alarm (red) similar to automobile speedometer and tachometer. Not a whole lot of that being used on this instrumentation. Suppose the operator must memorize all nominal settings and not rely on color code to help them out while in flight. Nice video Chris, enjoyed it much.

[@MultiZirkon]

OMG What a beauty! -- Greg just HAVE to make a sepparate video just about that cowling too! (The plane is so clean that those drip pans under is just to make it look real. -- The probably add some Worcesteshire Sauce into them just to fool us too.)

[@MilitaryAviationHistory]

really in such a fantastic state!

[@Philistine47]

An aircraft maintainer of my acquaintance once said to beware any aircraft that wasn't leaking hydraulic fluid, because that almost certainly meant the reservoirs were empty.

[@richardcooke5415]

It hasn't flown for many years. I cleaned the underside of it after an air test and it was caked in oil, pretty normal apparently.

[@ScrapYardDog64]

My favourite aeroplane ever! Thanks for the best ever up close and factual work around review.. brilliant!!!

[@jayklink851]

Thanks taking the time to bring us this brilliant content; well done! I was personally waiting for this video for sometime :)

[@phillydelphia8760]

Absolute beast of a machine! As a kid I was lucky enough to get to see a privately owned one flown fairly regularly like it should be! In perfect, clear blue summer skies over old RAF Tarrant Rushton airfield! A sound second only to the spitfire for me. The one I was witnessing was owned and flown by a guy who was a big part of Ilmore engines I think it was. Unfortunately i later learned he and the plane met an unfortunate end. I'd read it was because he tried landing on a field which had seen a lot of rain and possibly a bit of excess speed. Such a shame, but I'm glad I got to see him fly his baby so many times. It's something I'll never forget.

[@richardcooke5415]

Yes, real shame that. A wheel got stuck in a rut during the landing run and the aircraft flipped. No crash bar fitted.

[@mugsnvicki]

I saw a Fury sitting in a park in Havana Cuba. I didn't know its importance at the time but recognized it immediately. I have one in my plastic model collection. It was June 2018.

[@GARDENER42]

The Hawker Fury/Sea Fury ties with the Mosquito as my second favourite WW2/post war, piston engined aircraft (Spitfire clearly first). I've been fortunate enough to see the featured Sea Fury in the air at several displays in the past.

[@ben3989]

The 5 blade prop adds so much to this plane’s good looks

[@pjb5757]

Im new to your channel, what a beautiful aircraft and thanks for posting it. It's great to see the work of all these groups trying to keep our aviation history alive and well.

[@mathewkelly9968]

The pinnacle of piston engine fighter design

[@steelrad6363]

Thank you. One of the great things about your channel and KZbin, is you get to see things that normally you could not.

[@jona.scholt4362]

That five-bladed propeller looks awesome

[@billfarley9167]

Also the Centaurus engine was a cartridge starter.

[@nickbayer7847]

Thanks Chris! Really enjoyed this one 👍👍

[@thunderace4588]

Thank you for making this informative and entertaining video for us Chris.

[@TheRcgordon]

Brilliant . Always loved this aircraft.

[@robertmarsh3588]

Wonderful! I was hoping you'd cover this fantastic aircraft. I always love seeing these impressive machinee and have been lucky enough to see more than one display too (we're going back in time quite a lot). 😊😊😊

[@JamesLaserpimpWalsh]

Thanks Chris. Great work as ever.

[@tinkertailor7385]

Good stuff. Great to see the ol' warbirds preserved for posterity.... and flyable.

[@mriamilne]

Your explanation was stunning. Ty.

[@MrLaurencebourne]

Best review I’ve seen of the Sea Fury.Thanks.

[@mrwowpatrick]

Great video as always, keep up the good work 👍🏻

[@Braeden123698745]

The background noise is what we call "ambience" it's appreciated.

[@stevenr2463]

This is very interesting and also well done with good humor! Thank you!

[@ricardobeltranmonribot3182]

Amaizing video, the Sea Fury is one of the descendats of my top 5 favorites WW 2 aircrafts, and is good to see love from one of the last piston aircrafts, that, if I'm correct was one of the few piston engine planes that shoot down a Jet aircraft ( a Mig 15 if I'm correct)

[@alexscott9809]

Whenever I read a wiki article on any aircraft I now hear it in Christoph’s voice.

[@Hockernant]

I love the Sea Fury. I was quite saddend by the Fury crash at Duxford in 2020, I saw the aircraft fly the day before the crash

[@dienkonig33]

that one already survived a gear up landing as well?

[@richardcooke5415]

Yes, in 1986 at Yeovilton. Was rebuilt from another wreck in the USA by Sanders and retained the identity WG655, an aircraft I had the pleasure of flying in.

[@martentrudeau6948]

Beautiful plane, IMO, propeller planes do not get much better than this, this being near the peak of their development. Thanks Chris, great review.

[@johncashwell1024]

Its a "monocoque" fuselage, my friend. Its okay, some words just don't translate as well. Great work, well done!

[@ericgrace9995]

Is that a Hitler reference ?

[@johncashwell1024]

@@ericgrace9995 what? No, its a construction technique; that is, a method of construction that builds the body of a vehicle (aircraft, car, boat, etc.) and its frame as a single unit which not only simplifies construction but primarily is much stronger and lighter than building them as 2 separate parts and then bolting them together. Our friend, the host of the video, said "monoque" when he meant to say "monocoque".

[@alecjones4135]

@@johncashwell1024 it sounds funny when germans try to pronounce french words

[@martijn9568]

@@alecjones4135 That's not only limited to Germans though...

[@Reactordrone]

It has only one coque.

[@ronjon7942]

I got to work on a Fury project around 25 years ago in Kenosha. The things was solid, built like a tank. I always considered airplanes to be such fragile craft, and then there was this guy. Wonder where that one ended up.

[@bill8791]

The Seafury is always fantastic to watch at air displays.You can really see how far advanced it is from aircraft with their design starting prior to and the early stages of World War 2. It so effortlessly zoom climbs and hits 500mph in a dive without evening thinking about it. You just can't do that in late model Spit without stressing it or the engine. The Seafury just eats it up.

[@paultraynorbsc627]

Thanks Chris much appreciated 👍

[@robertroy6053]

Appreciate what you do! Love these videos. Thank you.

[@maryrafuse3851]

Love your histories and the great comments below. What a beautiful aircraft.

[@hermanlindqvist7238]

This type of HQ content is really great, keep it up!

[@giovannidomenech4321]

Excellent video your passion for aircraft is much appreciated I am a big fan. Please continue your outstanding work!

Thorough and well presented presentation.

[@eamonnosullivan5412]

Amazing aircraft. Well done Bismark !

[@alwayscensored6871]

The last of the piston planes are almost all beautifully looking.

[@andrewpinner3181]

Wow thanks Chris !

[@g3arjammer837]

Great video as always Bismarck.

[@yolakin8210]

Great work as always!

[@marc1829]

Another great presentation on one of my absolute favorite aircraft. Danke!

[@ianbell5611]

Thank you. Great information.

[@brianford8493]

Brilliant!....What a beast!

[@davidbarrett1487]

Thanks, very thorough and interesting insight into this iconic aircraft.

[@sski]

Awesome! My top favorite Superprop. Thanks!

[@stevewhite3424]

Great overview of a great aircraft!

[@davidrees7978]

The background noises were not in the least distracting to me as viewer, nor were they loud on the audio - on the contrary they added atmosphere. Good piece, well done, beautiful machine!

[@johnclelland3436]

Excellent video on my favorite plane, well done.

[@carlosteran5617]

Gracias flying german mate, I did enjoy it as usual. Have a great year Bismarck !!!😉🐏🦅

[@JarOfDirt.]

I remember seeing one of these in the Dutch national military museum, absolutely amazing aircraft!

[@alaincharlesleroy87]

I know that the Sea Fury in Korea war shoot down a jet Mig 15 . It was a beautiful aircraft !

[@gdwlaw5549]

happy new year!

[@johnspizziri1919]

absolutely outstanding- it is so great to see young guys get into warbirds like you thank you very much! if you could do some us planes- no other channel covers stuff like you do.

[@alanroadknight]

Was seccond thing your wearing a different shirt love your videos as a child was always into ww2 aircraft and shows going to London to see the Stuka after watching one of your videos.

[@richardcooke5415]

Really great video by a knowledgeable presenter. Thanks very much.

[@KorbinX]

Such a beautiful aircraft. Thank you for this informative video! Cheers

[@andredegraaf1643]

Super video. I am a big Typhoon fan and I am sure that a lot of what you are showing especially in the cockpit applies to the Typhoon as well as the Tempest.

[@disekjoumoer]

A simply brilliant video as always,Chris. And what a beautiful plane. In my not so humble opinion, the best looking piston engined fighter of all time.

[@nicolas2419]

A SO BEAUTIFUL AIRCRAFT... and a really good video! Thank you for it! :)

[@johnwilliams5316]

Awesome walk around as always! It would be cool if you could do a addendum to the walk around as a separate vid is a history of the particular aircraft and maybe a conversation with Maintance personal as to what they do to keep it flying?

[@paullevins5448]

Good Briefing. Nice Aircraft.

[@lookythat2]

I saw most of the flying Sea Furies in the world (4 I think) in California in the 70s at an airshow at Mintner Field. I must say, the Sea Fury is probably the most beautiful and impressive single engine propeller-driven aircraft -- EVER! Gorgeous, sleek, and fast. Beautiful!

[@hawkeyeten2450]

Lucky you! The early 50s saw some of the most beautiful combat aircraft ever built: Sea Fury, Skyraider, Sabre, Panther, Thunderjet, and even though it was the enemy, the MiG-15. Plus some World War II vets were still making their mark (namely the Corsair, Mustang and B-29 Superfortress).

[@edludwig1337]

What a gorgeous airplane!

[@mikepette4422]

My favorite piston engine fighter ? I have a lot of planes that are my "fav" WW2 fighter because frankly, I just can't choose one, I like too many. However, the Sea Fury doesn't make this list. Why ? Because its on its own list Fav Piston engine fighter period ! Since of course it didn't operate in WW2. The list has 2 planes on it the Sea Fury and Fokker D.VII but neither were involved in WW2 So obviously this video makes me very happy as Chris has already covered the D. VII

[@jorizsombor]

I love the Sea Fury! Thanks Mark!

[@edwinleslie1330]

I remember he showed me a photo of Sea Furys lined up on the flight deck. They were started up to help turn the aircraft carrier.

[@Old_B52H_Gunner]

Such a beautiful aircraft.

[@jerrymail]

The first time i have seen this aircraft, that was when my dad built a Matchbox Sea Fury model, in the 70's. Thanks for the upload ! :)

[@JustanOlGuy]

Nice...!... Well Done as always... Thanks fer Sharing...

[@CssHDmonster]

ah the sea fury, one of my favs in warthunder, only beat by the seafire with counter-rotating propellers

[@nickcs4488]

My Dad ran the Royal Navy historic flight for many years.