Hawker Tempest

Two Tempest Vs, EJ518 and NV768, were fitted with Napier Sabre Vs and experimented with several different Napier made annular [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], with which they resembled Tempest IIs.

This configuration proved to generate less drag than the standard "chin" radiator, contributing to an improvement in the maximum speed of some 11 to 14 mph.

NV768 was later fitted with a ducted spinner, similar to that fitted to the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien].

Another experimental Tempest V was SN345, which was fitted with two [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], one under each wing in a long "pod".

Tempest II


The decision to drop the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] allowed Sydney Camm and his design team to transfer the alternative engine proposals for the Tornado to the more advanced Typhoon II (later to be renamed "Tempest").

As a result the Tempest was designed from the outset to use the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] 18 cylinder [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] as an alternative to the liquid cooled engines which were also proposed. Two Centaurus powered Tempest Mk II
prototypes were to be built.

The first Tempest Mark II, LA602, flew on 28 June 1943 powered by a Centaurus IV (2,520 hp/1,879 kW) driving a four-blade propeller. LA602 initially flew with a Typhoon-type fin and rudder unit.

This was followed by the second, LA607, which first flew on 18 September 1943 and was assigned to engine development.

Apart from the new engine and cowling, the Tempest II prototypes were similar to early series Tempest Vs.

The main airframe difference was the addition of carburettor air intakes in the inner leading edges of both wings, with an oil cooler and air intake in the inner, starboard wing.

The radial engine installation owed much to examinations of a captured [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], and was unprecedentedly clean and effective.

One adopted feature was the use of individual exhaust stubs, laid out in a row down either side of the fuselage, rather than the front collector and large single exhaust used by the Centaurus powered Tornado.

In spite of the promise of a more reliable powerplant than the Sabre, there were frustrating problems, including overheating, unreliable and leaking exhausts, insufficient crankshaft lubrication and propeller reduction gear seizures.

There were also problems with vibration, but they were fixed by replacing the original "rigid" eight-point engine mounts with six-point rubber-packed shock mounts.

In a further attempt to alleviate engine vibration, the four blade propeller was replaced with a five blade unit; eventually, a finely balanced four bladed unit was settled on.

Physically, the Tempest II was longer than the Tempest V (34 ft 5 in/10.5 m versus 33 ft 8 in/10.3 m) and 3 in (76 mm)
lower.

The weight of the heavier Centaurus engine (2,695 lb/1,222 kg versus 2,360 lb/1,070 kg) was offset by the absence of a heavy radiator unit, so that the Tempest II was only some 20 lb (9 kg) heavier overall.

Performance was improved; maximum speed was 442 mph (711 km/h) at 15,200 ft (4,633 m) and climb rate to the same altitude took four and a half minutes compared with five minutes for the Tempest V.

The [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] was increased to 37,500 ft (11,430 m)

The Centaurus was generally regarded as superior to the Sabre, particularly in terms of reliability, and the engine and Tempest airframe proved an excellent match.

The combination looked so promising that a contract for 500 of the type was placed as far back as September 1942, but [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] was overloaded with production of the Typhoon and development of the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], and the company could not handle the additional load.

In 1943 the Tempest Mark II production contract was allocated to [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], and the switch delayed production even more.

The first Tempest II was rolled off the line on 4 October 1944. With the end of the Second World War in sight, orders for the Tempest II were trimmed or cancelled; after 50 Tempest IIs had been built at Bristol's Banwell facility, production was stopped and shifted back to Hawker.

A total of 452 Tempest IIs were built, including 136 basic Mark IIs and 316 "Fighter Bomber Mark IIs" (FB II).

They were built mostly by Hawker and generally with Centaurus V engines, and of that number 300 were completed after the war.

The Tempest II, despite its slightly improved performance and better reliability, never saw combat.

Tempest IIs produced during the war were intended for combat against [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], and would have formed part of a proposed [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] long range bomber force based on Okinawa, [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien].

The [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] ended before they could be deployed.

The RAF passed 89 Tempest FB IIs to the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] in 1947, while another 24 were passed on to the Pakistani
Air Force.

MK I

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Tempest VI


Various engineering refinements that had gone into the Tempest II were incorporated into the last Tempest variant, the "Tempest VI", which was fitted with a Napier Sabre V engine with 2,340 hp (1,700 kW).

The more powerful Sabre V required a bigger radiator which displaced the oil cooler and carburettor air intake from the radiator's centre.

Air for the carburettor was drawn through intakes on the leading edge of the inner wings, with the oil cooler being
fitted behind the radiator.

Most Tempest VIs were tropicalised with an air filter fitted in a fairing on the lower centre-section.

Hundreds of Tempest VIs were ordered, though only 142 were built.

The last piston-engined fighter in RAF service was a Tempest VI.

For a long time it was thought that there were Tempest VIs converted for target towing :

none of the service histories of the aircraft show TT conversions and no supporting photographic evidence has been found.

Drawing board designs


In 1944, in response to [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] Sydney Camm started a design, the P.1027, for a slightly enlarged Tempest
powered by a [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], which was projected to develop around 2,500-4,000 hp (1,864-2,983 kW).

This engine would have driven eight-blade [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] propellers.

The radiator was to be moved into a ventral bath under the rear fuselage and wing centre section : the wingspan was 41 ft (12.5 m) and the length was 37 ft 3 in (11.4 m).

The design was soon dropped in favour of the P.1030, which featured wing leading edge radiators and larger overall dimensions of 42 ft (12.8 m) wingspan and 39 ft 9 in (12.1 m) long.

Top speed was expected to be in the region of 508 mph (817 km/h), with a rate of climb of 6,400 ft/min
(1,951 m/min).

Service ceiling was projected to be 42,000 ft (12,802 m).

Both tenders were dropped when Camm decided to follow the more promising jet engine designs he was working on.

Service history


Tempest V in combat


The Tempest V was in the hands of operational squadrons by April 1944; [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] was the first to be fully equipped, closely followed by [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] (the only non-RAF unit to be equipped with the Tempest during the Second World War).

A third unit - [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] - initially kept its Typhoons and was then temporarily equipped wth [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] until
sufficient supplies of Tempests were available.

By the end of April 1944, these units were based at [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] a new "Advanced Landing Ground" (ALG), where they formed [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], under the command of [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien].

Most of the initial operations carried out comprised high altitude fighter sweeps, offensive operations known as "Rangers" (long-range sorties inside enemy territory, specifically to attack ground vehicles) and anti-shipping
reconnaissance.

In June 1944, however, the first German [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] were launched against London and the Tempest's
excellent low-altitude performance made it one of the preferred tools for dealing with the small fast-flying unmanned missiles.

Tempest squadrons racked up a considerable percentage of the total RAF kills over the flying bombs
(638 of a total of 1,846 destroyed by aircraft).

The Tempest was also deployed in support of the Allied armies advancing across northern Europe and engaged [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] aircraft when they could be found.

[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] attempt to seize a bridgehead over the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] had Tempest units, based at [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] in England, flying in support.

After Market Garden, Tempest squadrons moved to the European mainland.

The Tempest force consisted of 122 Wing (3 Sqn., 56 Sqn., [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] (to March 1945), and 486 Sqn.);
from October 1944 122 Wing was based at B.70 [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] near [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], Netherlands.

In February 1945, 135 Wing ([Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] and (from March 1945) 274 Sqn.) was formed and was based at B.77 [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] airfield, Netherlands.