Hawker Tempest

The redesigned main undercarriage legs were longer and had a wider track (16 ft/5 m) to improve stability at the high landing speed of 110 mph (180 km/h), and to allow [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] for a new four-blade, 14 ft (4 m)[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien].

The main undercarriage units were designed to incorporate a system of [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] which shortened the legs as they
retracted.

The main wheels also needed new thin [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] in order to fit within the wing.

Finally, the retractable tailwheel was fully enclosed by small doors.

Camm and the Hawker design team placed a high priority on making their aircraft easily accessible to both air and ground crews;
to this end the forward fuselage and cockpit areas of the earlier Hurricane and the Tempest and Typhoon families were covered by large removable panels providing access to as many components as possible, including [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] and engine accessories.

Both upper wingroots incorporated panels of non-slip coating.

For the pilot a retractable foot stirrup under the starboard root trailing edge was linked to a pair of handholds which were covered by spring loaded flaps.

Through a system of linkages, when the canopy was open the stirrup was lowered and the flaps opened, providing easy access to the cockpit.

As the canopy was closed the stirrup was raised into the fuselage and the flaps snapped shut.

The new design was finalised by October 1941 and the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] issued [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] that had been written to fit the aircraft. A contract for two initial [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] was issued the next month.

The aircraft was originally named the "Typhoon Mark II" but was renamed "Tempest" in January 1942 when more prototypes with various experimental configurations were ordered.

The problems experienced with delivery of engines led the Air Ministry to ask for six prototypes with different engines so that if a delay hit one engine an alternative would be available.

This gave the Mk I (aircraft [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]) with a [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], two Mk IIs (LA602 and LA607) with the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], MK III (LA610) with a [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], Mk IV (LA614) with a [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] and the Mk V (HM595) with the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien].

The first Tempest prototype, the Mark V, was first flown by Philip Lucas from Langley on 2 September 1942.

This aircraft retained the Typhoon's framed [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]-style door, the Sabre II engine, and "chin" radiator.

It was quickly fitted with a [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] like the later Typhoons and a modified [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] that almost doubled the vertical tail surface area.

The horizontal tailplanes and [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] were also increased in span and chord (these were also fitted to late production Typhoons.)

Plan du Tempest MK II sur le bon site airwar.ru

[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir cette image]

[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] found the Tempest a great improvement over the Typhoon in performance; in February 1943 the pilots from the A&AEE at [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] reported that they were impressed by "a manoeuverable and pleasant aircraft to fly with
no major handling faults".

The Air Ministry had already ordered 400 Tempests in August but production of the new Sabre IV engine ran into
protracted problems and delays.

The second prototype, the "Tempest Mark I" with the Sabre IV did not fly until 24 February 1943.

This prototype also had at first the older Typhoon cockpit and vertical tailplane.

Elimination of the "chin" radiator did much to improve performance and the Tempest Mark I was the fastest aircraft Hawker had built to that time, attaining a speed of 466 mph (750 km/h).

Continual problems with the Sabre IV meant that only one Mark I (HM599) was built; consequently Hawker went into production with the Sabre II engined "Tempest V".

The first rolled off the production line on 21 June 1943.

The first Tempest Vs delivered had the long-[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] 20 mm (.79 in) Hispano Mk II cannon.

Later production aircraft used the short-barrelled 20 mm (.79 in) [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], eliminating the protruding barrels - though these had not been as prominent as on the Typhoon.

The ultimate offshoot of the Typhoon and Tempest family was the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]

Tempest Mark V


In his book The Big Show, French ace [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], who flew Mk Vs with Nos. [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] and [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] squadrons of the RAF in 1944-45, describes flying the fighter:


Thanks to its 2,400 hp engine it had a considerable margin of excess power and its acceleration was phenomenal.

It was pretty tricky to fly, but its performance more than made up for it.

Some of the assets of the Tempest V were its high cruising speed (nearly 400 mph/644 km/h using
1,420 hp/1,059 kW), good acceleration, excellent climbing and diving speeds, especially at low to medium altitudes.

All of these are vital in air combat which, during World War II, rarely got into the tail chasing, close-quarter "[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]" so beloved of filmmakers.

The Mk V was a much different Tempest to the Mk I with many improvements over preceding variants.

The Mk Vs received the initially problem-plagued Napier Sabre II series engines developing in excess of 2,000 hp
(1,491 kW) with their H-24 cylinder configuration.

Unlike the Mk I aircraft, the wing root oil coolers were moved to a location directly behind the main "chin" radiator.

The first production Tempest V, JN729 was first flown by test pilot Bill Humble on 21 June 1943.

Several of the early production aircraft underwent extensive service trials at [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] including clearances to be fitted with external stores, including 500 lb (227 kg) and 1,000 lb (454 kg) bombs and 3 in (76.2 mm) [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] rockets.

Examination of captured [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] brought about improvements in the windscreen/ side windows; by careful design and positioning of the frame structure blind spots were reduced to an absolute minimum.

During production of the first batch of 100 (JNxxx serialled) Tempest Vs changes were progressively introduced:


The rear fuselage [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]/[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] joint originally featured the 20 external reinforcing "fishplates" first seen fitted to the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien].

Sometime during this production batch the rear fuselage was modified and became detachable.

The first Tempest Vs used long barrelled 20 mm (.79 in) Hispano Mk. IIs which projected ahead of the wing leading edges.

These were later replaced by short barrelled Mk. Vs which were flush with the leading edges.

"Five spoke" wheels, of a similar pattern to those of the Typhoon, were later replaced by a reinforced "four spoke" pattern.

Initially, Tempest Vs used a built-up rear spar pick-up/bulkhead assembly (just behind the cockpit) which was adapted from the Typhoon.

Small blisters on the upper rear wing root fairing covered the securing bolts.

This was later changed to a new forged, lightweight assembly which connected to new spar booms: the upper wing root
blisters were replaced by small "teardrop" fairings under the wings.

The new spar structure also allowed the wings to carry up to 2,000 lb (907 kg) of external stores.

Also developed specifically for the Tempest by Hawker was a streamlined 45 gal (205 l) "drop tank" and carrier fairing; the redesigned wing incorporated the plumbing for these tanks, one to each wing.

The [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] were fitted with spring loaded [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] which lightened the aerodynamic loads, making them easier for the pilot to use and dramatically improving the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] above 250 mph (402 km/h).

• Different models of the Sabre II were introduced. The later versions were capable of producing over
  2,400 hp (1,789 kW) on emergency boost for short periods of time.
  

As in all mass-produced aircraft, there may have been some overlap of these features as new components became available.

In mid to late 1944 other features were introduced to both the Typhoon and Tempest : A [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] transponder unit was fitted, with the associated aerial appearing under the portside centre section.

A small, elongated oval [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] appeared on the rear starboard fuselage, just above the red centre spot.

This was apparently used to more accurately measure the aircraft's altitude.

Unusually, in spite of the Tempest V being the RAF's best low to medium altitude fighter, it was not equipped with the new [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], an asset which was fitted in RAF Spitfires and Mustangs from mid-1944 and one which considerably improved the chances of shooting down opposing aircraft.

Tempest pilots continued to use the Mk.IIL reflector gunsight until just after World War II, when the gyro-gunsight
was introduced in Tempest IIs.

Externally the Tempest V bore a strong resemblance to the Typhoon: the longer nose, thinner wings and larger tail unit, with a gracefully curved dorsal fin, enhanced the looks of the fighter, and were the most noticeable differences.