Hawker Sea Fury FB.11

This Sea Fury is one of the Iraqi fighters, a large cache of which was imported into the USA in the mid 1970s. These aircraft make up the majority of surviving Hawker Sea Furies today and their popularity has seen them much sought after as an impressive display aircraft and a formidable air racer. Hawker ISS Sea Fury FB.11, c/n 37514, was first flown in June 1948 prior to going into storage until required to fill an Iraqi order the following year. Delivered to the Iraqi Air Force it was coded IAF 250 and served until retirement in the early 1960s. After import to the USA the fighter was restored to fly, returning to the air in the late 1980s. Following a forced landing the Fury was modified, fitted with the reliable 2,800 hp Curtiss-Wright R-3350 engine and a second seat. Now finished in a spectacular Royal Australian Navy вЂRoyal Blue’ scheme, the aircraft was thereafter sold and shipped to South Africa in 2001 where it made the occasional public appearance, until sold to a French collector in 2007. Here it thrilled crowds, not only in France, but in the UK, staring at the world renowned Flying Legends air show at Duxford.