Hurricane Diaries (Hurricane MK II)

[Sandmarken]

Timeframe: June-July 1941

Unit: Grupul 7 Vânătoare, 53rd Escadrila 

Aircraft: Hurricane MK II

Duration: 7 Missions

Author: Sandmarken

 

Background: Romania ordered 50 Hawker Hurricanes from Britain in 1939, only twelve were delivered before the country became part of the Axis. These aircraft were assigned to the 53rd Escadrila (Squadron). At the start of Operation Barbarossa, Escadrila 53 used its Hurricanes to defend the Black Sea coast, particularly the harbor at Constanţa. The squadron also provided escort for Romanian bombers and carried out air superiority missions. In the first ten days of combat, the 53rd Squadron managed to score 35 air victories without suffering any combat losses.

 

With some limitations due to map, Il2-engine and available aircraft, all missions in this campaign are based on or inspired by the recorded actions of the 53rd Squadron during the first days of Operation Barbarossa. The unit’s historical home airfield at Buzău lies about 80 km outside the boundaries of our Odessa map, so the nearest airfield at Galați is used instead. 

 

This campaign is made together with @AndreiTomescu. He has done most of the historical research, testing, mission suggestions and also written many of the mission briefings. This campaign could not have been made without the help of a trusted Romanian historian!

 

Install: Download the file, extract it and put the data folder in your main il2 folder. 

 

Skins: Some skins are needed for this campagin, made by @E69_julian57 and Rostic. Many thx to them for good work! 

 

 

File: https://drive.google.com/file/d/19Q2ng4cukJRx9V0JF9HcEa-gs-garUSK/view?usp=sharing

 

 

Some notes: Do not hide the HUD as it will give vital information about the mission! 

The AI sometimes have a hard time landing at Galati, but the mission will always be complete if the player lands. 

 

Please tell me if you find bugs!

 

I will recommend the romanian voice mod for this campaign! It can be downloaded from the last measages in this thread:

 

Edited Wednesday at 08:46 PM by Sandmarken

[Jaegermeister]

Nice to see you completed this one @Sandmarken, Congratulations!

 

I will look forward to flying it when I get a little spare time. Thanks for all the hard work I know you and @AndreiTomescu put into it.

 

[Sandmarken]

6 hours ago, Jaegermeister said:

Nice to see you completed this one @Sandmarken, Congratulations!

 

I will look forward to flying it when I get a little spare time. Thanks for all the hard work I know you and @AndreiTomescu put into it.

 

Thx Jaegermeister! 😁

 

And thank you for helping me out with the editor whenever i ask 😁😄

 

Edited Thursday at 05:35 AM by Sandmarken

[AndreiTomescu]

here is the direct link for the romanian radio chatter, but this one you have to use it by replacing the german files (copy/paste this over them). Remember to back up the german files before doing that!

 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1gBqRxzPWUQF6FmaNkWpz_U0rp4S20AIi/view?usp=sharing

 

In the other link there is the same mod, but made JGSME ready by @kraut1 . That's better and easier to do. 

 

IMHO, it's incompatible for a SIMULATOR to provide you with german chatter while flying a different country (except if you are Polish and fly for RAF  , and even those guys still spoke in native language when talking to each other, despite british regulations) So that's why this mode (far from perfect!) makes things a bit more immersive.

 

Some say the Spitfire is the most beautiful aircraft, some that Fw-190 was the most feared, some that the MIG-3 was the best.

But the Hawker Hurricane was the widest used!

Besides its primary user, the RAF (and that counts British, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, S Africa, India, Rhodesia, plus Norwegian, Polish, Czech) was used by 

- France

- Belgium

- Netherlands

- Greece

- Romania

- USSR

- Yugoslavia

- Portugal

- Ireland

- Finland

but also Egypt, Iran, Turkey, Iraq, Israel, Syria, Mexico. 

This was really a world wide used aircraft !

 

In Romania, despite having just 12 bought from UK and 4 captured by the Germans from Yugoslavia and sold to Romania , was the most beloved aircraft by his pilots, even by those who flew afterwards Bf-109 and IAR-80. 

This actual love toward this machine, the trust they put in it, the elation experienced by those early war pilots into being tasked with liberate the territories taken by force one year before (Ribbentrop - Molotov pact, the Nazi-USSR deal), the grim reality of all-out war, the difference between home made propaganda and the true might of the Soviet strength and determination, the fear, disappointment and moral dilemma brought by death and destruction,  are all so vivid depicted by @Sandmarken in this concise campaign dedicated to "those wonderful men and their flying"...... Hawker Hurricanes !

[AcesDarthBubu]

To play this campaign, one must have the yet to release Odessa and Leningard module?

[Sandmarken]

3 hours ago, AcesDarthBubu said:

To play this campaign, one must have the yet to release Odessa and Leningard module?

Yes, and the Hurricane mkII collector plane. 

[AndreiTomescu]

7 hours ago, AcesDarthBubu said:

yet to release Odessa and Leningard module

the Odessa part is released, has been improved since it's first launch, and except for the Career mode, running in full flag. This campaign is on this map. So, in order to play this, one needs:

- Odessa & Leningrad early access 

- Hawker Hurricane Mk II collector plane

         optional:

- romanian radio chatter MOD

 

Also the Bf109 E4 actually used by Romania, Gr 7 Vt , is available and included in this module since its latest patch.

[AcesDarthBubu]

My copy is on steam, so its technically not released yet. Nonetheless thanks for the info, once steam has the module, will surely try this out.

[AndreiTomescu]

1 hour ago, AcesDarthBubu said:

My copy is on steam, so its technically not released yet

oh, sorry, didn't know that. i thought early is early on everything. sorry. 

by the time it gets out, you will have SEVERAL awesome campaigns on this map, with the romanian side. 😉

[Sandmarken]

5 hours ago, AcesDarthBubu said:

My copy is on steam, so its technically not released yet. Nonetheless thanks for the info, once steam has the module, will surely try this out.

It is possible to mix steam and website purchases, but ofc some people rather wait. 🙂

[Jaegermeister]

On 10/9/2025 at 8:46 PM, AcesDarthBubu said:

To play this campaign, one must have the yet to release Odessa and Leningard module?

 

The early release Odessa map is all you need. You can get it now.

 

I see AndreiTomescu already answered this for you above.  

Edited 2 hours ago by Jaegermeister