Hawker Tempest II – first flight post restoration
This is the only flyable Hawker Tempest II in the world. The Tempest was the biggest, most powerful, fastest British fighter of World War II and the last World War II RAF fighter to see combat, flying in the Malayan Emergency 1948-51, when it was finally removed from operations.
This Tempest was found in Poona, India in 1979 and returned to Britain. It has been the subject of various restoration projects ever since, until it was finally taken on charge ten years ago. The restoration of the airframe was completed in 2019 and then things stopped for the pandemic.
In the past year, the 2,300 hp Bristol Centaurus VI sleeve-valve radial engine has been finally completed and engine tests have been going on since last May.
Today, October 11, 2023, the airplane finally returned to the air.
It's restored in the markings of a Tempest II of 33 Squadron RAF, the final unit to operate the airplane in combat.
Enjoy the video of the first flight!
A beautiful Beast. Many thanks for posting, Tom.
Nice to see it back where it belongs, in the air. Beautiful!
Glad to see it finally restored to flying condition.
Is the Tempest painted in Speed Silver?
Yes. In the actual case, the 33 Squadron Tempests had the High Speed Silver painted over their earlier RAF camouflage. In the tropical conditions of Malaya, they soon looked pretty ratty, as this model I made of this specific airplane shows.
2 attached images. Click to enlarge.
What a treat! Sydney Camm would have been proud.
Nice little collection of Tempest, P-47, P-51, Hurricane (and heaps more not shown on camera I presume).
Wow!
Fantastic to see this bird up in the sky again, Tom @tcinla
Is the Tempest II comparable in performance with the Bearcat?
Yes.
This is so cool. The bird is huge! Gotta admit though, personally i like the looks of the Mk. V better.
Thanks for sharing. A truly mighty machine.
Good to see a Tempest with the correct engine. Being the younger brother to the Tempest the Sea Fury is often gets a new made in America engine. The Centaurus engine is not only rare but, complex. Kermit Weeks has a Tempest in his collection it would be great if his project got more traction.
This is the Tempest that was in Kermit's collection. He sold it to Richard Grace 10 years ago.
I''m watching old YouTube then. Good to know.
He had another Tempest V. Did that project get sold or is it in storage?
Sexy AF
That is cool! 😎 😁
Magnificent. Thanks for posting Tom.
Btw loved your article in Flypast regarding the DH4.
Paul.
Such a beautiful plane, fantastic achievement to get her in the air again. Thanks for posting Tom (@tcinla).
Those outside landing gear strut doors on the Tempest MkII and MkV always make me nervous when I see them in photos...they look like they are going to dig into the ground when the tail elevates during take off.
The Sea Furies have a different design.
Back in 2014 I worked with a young guy that had a complete example-if you count complete as all (most) parts in the same hangar. His name was Chris somethingorother and felt he could do the airframe resto on his own and farm out the engine work. After seeing the project I suggested that he ask for a huge raise in salary and a four hour workweek, plus the guarantee that he'd live forever OR find a financially qualified organization to buy it from him if he ever expected to see it fly. His was ex-Indian AF-what I saw had no damage or corrosion-just a jillion pieces.