The 1950 Hawker Sea Fury T.Mk.20S known as "Critical Mass" has been a regular on the Reno Air Racing scene since 1987.  Although quite succesful in the racing role, the years have been hard on the Sea Fury and its utility was limited to a "one week a year" mission.  There was much discussion within the Dwelle family on the future of the Sea Fury but a phone call in Dec 2006 set the course.  The 4,200 HP hybrid racing engine on Critical Mass was to be sold to the new owner of Unlimited Racing Icon "Rare Bear".  Within a month, Critical Mass's clipped outer wing panels were traded to unlimited heavyweight "September Fury" for that racer's spare set of stock wings.  The path was set, Critical Mass was to be restored back to stock! 

     The news in the racing community was met with a resounding "thud" the aircraft had built up an amazing level of fan support and most were not too pleased about the sexy red racer going back to stock but the Dwelle family could not be happier with the decision.  This Sea Fury is somewhat unique in that it was originally built as a two seat, dual-control trainer before the front cockpit was removed to support its racing role.  As a dual control trainer, it would be one of only seven left in the world and make an ideal stable mate for the Dwelle's pair of North American T-6's.

     The first phase was to strip the aircraft down to its most elemental components, remove the paint and racing modifications and scour the world for the parts we would need to put it back together.  Locating the parts was no small task but proved to be remarkably succesful thanks to the help of some really great people!  We are still missing some parts which are listed on the "Parts Needed" tab please contact us with any leads on these items.

     The current phase involves re-skinning the entire fuselage and much of the wing.  We were thrilled to find a complete tail section in Australia which was built as a spare and had never been installed on an aircraft.  We have outsourced the sheet metal work to the Sea Fury masters at Sanders Aircraft and to Powerpac Engineering in Ione, CA.  This allows us to stay on a reasonable timeline while we complete the restoration of all the component pieces in-house.

     The third phase will come when the completed fuselage and wing are returned to us.  At that time we will install all the components and systems which are being completed now.

     The final phase will involve wiring, instrument plumbing and installation of the powerplant.  Due to the unavailability of Bristol Centaurus engines and spares, we will be forced to utilize an American Wright R-3350-26WD engine.  The engine and installation of modern radios will be the main deviations from Hawker's original specification.  The aircraft will be finished in a "yet to be determined" stock paint scheme.

     We are soliciting input on the paint scheme selection and also looking for information on its time in the Royal Navy (1950-1958) as we haven't been able to find anything.

Please feel free to contact us with questions or comments and check back often as we will update the current restoration status.