Author Topic: Tempest II (Read 1026 times)

F4UDOA · « **on:** February 27, 2007, 10:19:45 PM »

Does anyone know if the Tempest II saw much if any combat in WW2?

This is the closest thing to a Seafury I can imagine without the arrestor hook.

Just think, it doesn't even need "perk" fuel.

VooWho · « **Reply #1 on:** February 27, 2007, 10:21:32 PM »

If your talking about the Hawker Seafury it came too late to see any action in WW2. I believe its first flight was in 1946 but was probably on the drawing board during ww2.

Debonair · « **Reply #2 on:** February 28, 2007, 12:04:51 AM »

I saw a Centaurus engine under restoration a couple years ago.
The sleeve value looks like a very clever variation on the normal piston engine cylinder, but i guess if it was so much better it would have become the common way of doing things a long time ago....

F4UDOA · « **Reply #3 on:** February 28, 2007, 07:25:10 AM »

All of the British fighter experts out there and nobody knows if the Tempest II saw combat?

This test was in May of 1945.

straffo · « **Reply #4 on:** February 28, 2007, 08:21:19 AM »

Not that I know ,I think they were supposed to be used against Japan.

DarkglamJG52 · « **Reply #5 on:** February 28, 2007, 08:22:26 AM »

Info:

http://www.vectorsite.net/avcfury.html

"A total of 452 Tempest IIs were built, including 136 basic Mark IIs and 316 "Fighter Bomber Mark IIs (FB.IIs)". 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 the Japanese, but the Pacific War ended before they could be deployed. 89 Tempest FB.IIs were passed on from the RAF to the Indian Air Force in 1947, while another 24 were passed on to the Pakistani Air Force"

bozon · « **Reply #6 on:** February 28, 2007, 08:35:49 AM »

415 mph on the deck ?!

Ball · « **Reply #7 on:** February 28, 2007, 09:26:26 AM »

Beauty isn't it?

I think this is in the same category as the Bearcat.

Stupid thing is, it seems they could have easily had it in service in time. I guess the situation was not desperate so they didnt rush it though.

Sydney Camm is one of, if not the greatest aircraft designer of all time.

Quote

While Hawker was working toward the introduction of the Tempest V, Sydney Camm and his crew were also revisiting the Bristol Centaurus radial engine, incorporating it into two other Tempest prototypes.

The first Centaurus powered Tempest, the "Tempest Mark II", flew on 28 June 1943 with a Centaurus IV, and was followed presently by the second. The radial engine installation owed much to examinations of a captured Focke-Wulf Fw-190, and was unprecedentedly clean and effective. There were problems with vibration, but they were fixed by addition of six rubber shock mounts.

The Centaurus was generally regarded as superior to the Sabre, particularly in terms of reliability, and the Centaurus 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 Gloster was overloaded with production of the Typhoon and development of the Gloster Meteor, and there was no way the company could handle the additional load.

Tempest Mark II production ended up in the hands of Bristol, and the switch delayed production even more. The first Tempest II was rolled off the line on 4 October 1944, but then production was 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 the Japanese, and would have formed part of "Tiger Force" but the Pacific War ended before they could be deployed.

Eighty-nine Tempest FB.IIs were passed on from the RAF to the Indian Air Force in 1947, while another 24 were passed on to the Pakistani Air Force.

Hazzer · « **Reply #8 on:** February 28, 2007, 11:10:49 AM »

The Tempest II did not see action in wwII.sorry:(

Kweassa · « **Reply #9 on:** February 28, 2007, 11:51:32 AM »

Quote

Stupid thing is, it seems they could have easily had it in service in time. I guess the situation was not desperate so they didnt rush it though/

More likely they invested the time and money on the more promising field of the aircraft of the jet-era, instead of wasting resources on a dead-end technology to introduce a 'destined-to-be-obsolete-pretty-soon' recipro aircraft in a theater which they were pretty sure they've already won in.

I think it's a smart thing to do, not stupid.

- My 2cents.

Ball · « **Reply #10 on:** February 28, 2007, 01:55:58 PM »

Quote

Originally posted by Kweassa
More likely they invested the time and money on the more promising field of the aircraft of the jet-era, instead of wasting resources on a dead-end technology to introduce a 'destined-to-be-obsolete-pretty-soon' recipro aircraft in a theater which they were pretty sure they've already won in.

I think it's a smart thing to do, not stupid.

- My 2cents.

I agree 100%, bad choice of words on my part.

titanic3 · « **Reply #11 on:** February 28, 2007, 06:51:14 PM »

the tempest II was produce in 1945 but it didn't see much service (or any at all) they were use after the war though as i think to kill terrorists in Malaya in 1954 i think.