​Hawker Hurricane P3351 finds new home

Hurricane Mk.IIa P3351 has found its way from the UK to the Letecké Muzeum Točná at Točná Airport in the Czech Republic. Since its arrival there the fighter has received a new colourscheme, the markings of P3143/’NN-D’ of 310 (Czechoslovak) Squadron RAF.

These markings of a ‘Battle of Britain’ veteran Hurricane have been applied to commemorate the connection between Czechoslovakia and Great Britain, and to pay tribute to the many Czechoslovak pilots that served in the RAF. The aircraft’s first engine runs are expected early this year and it is hoped to have the Hurricane airworthy at Točná in the middle of the 2024.

Registered as F-AZXR and owned by Jan Friso Roozen, P3351 suffered damage in a landing accident at Dijon-Darois (France) on 24 May 2015. Repairs were performed by Aéro Restauration Service at Darois but from 2019 the plane was offered for sale. The new owner sent it to Hawker Restorations at Elmsett airfield in the UK for a major rebuild including new fabric and an engine and prop overhaul. Following the rebuilding P3351 was offered for sale again, asking price EUR 2.25 Million. Letecké Muzeum Točná is said to have bought the plane in 2022.

Hurricane P3351 has an impressive history. It was built in early 1940 as a Mk.I and was immediately issued to No. 73 Squadron in France. It took part in ‘Operation Dynamo’, flying defensive patrols covering the retreat of British Forces to the coast before they evacuated to England.

Back in the UK, it joined 72 and later 32 Squadron for the upcoming battle over its homeland. After spending some months with an American Eagle Squadron from early 1941, P3351 was modified to Mk.IIa configuration and became DR393. It was fitted with an upgraded engine and improved armament, and in May 1942 was shipped to Russia where it served on the Arctic Front. It was shot down near Murmansk in the winter of 1943.

The wreckage was recovered some 50 years later and brought back to the UK. New Zealand collector Tim Wallis purchased the Hurricane and joined forces with Tony Ditheridge. The two men formed a new company called Hawker Restorations Ltd, with the goal of returning the Hurricane to the air.

Following its restoration in the UK, the fighter was assembled in New Zealand. The aircraft took to the sky again on 12 January 2000 as ZK-TPK (referring to the wartime code of P3351 ‘TP-K’. With the demise of the Alpine Fighter Collection the Hurricane moved to France where it made its first flight as F-AZXR from Dijon-Darois in May 2013.

Photos: Letecké Muzeum Točná (‘P3143’/’NN-D’) and Gert Jan Mentink (F-AZXR / P3351/TP-K)