hawker tempest Archives - Felix's Gaming Pages

This Hawker Tempest II was on display at RAF Cosford.

The Hawker Tempest was a British fighter aircraft that was used by the Royal Air Force (RAF) in the Second World War. It was an improved version of the Hawker Typhoon, and was designed to address the Typhoon’s unexpected deterioration in performance at high altitude. The Tempest was renamed after it diverged considerably from the Typhoon. It emerged as one of the most powerful fighters of World War II, and was the fastest single-engine propeller-driven aircraft of the war at low altitude.

The Hawker Tempest was powered by a 2,210 hp Bristol Centaurus V air-cooled radial engine. The Hawker Tempest was a highly successful aircraft, and was considered to be one of the best British fighters of the Second World War. It was fast, powerful, and well-armed, and proved to be very effective in both ground attack and air-to-air combat.

The Hawker Tempest II was designed to use the Bristol Centaurus 18-cylinder radial engine, as an alternative to the liquid-cooled engines that were originally proposed. The new engine and cowling were the only major differences between the Tempest II and the earlier Tempest Vs. The carburettor air intakes were in the inner leading edges of both wings, an oil cooler and air intake were present in the inner starboard wing. The engine installation owed much to examinations of a captured Focke-Wulf Fw 190.

This Hawker Tempest was on display at RAF London.

The Hawker Tempest is a British fighter aircraft that was primarily used by the Royal Air Force (RAF) in the Second World War. The Tempest, originally known as the Typhoon II, was an improved derivative of the Hawker Typhoon, intended to address the Typhoon’s unexpected deterioration in performance at high altitude by replacing its wing with a thinner laminar flow design. Since it had diverged considerably from the Typhoon, it was renamed Tempest. The Tempest emerged as one of the most powerful fighters of World War II and was the fastest single-engine propeller-driven aircraft of the war at low altitude.

Upon entering service in 1944, the Tempest performed low-level interception, particularly against the V-1 flying bomb threat, and ground attack supporting major invasions like Operation Market Garden. Later, it successfully targeted the rail infrastructure in Germany and Luftwaffe aircraft on the ground, as well as countering similar attacks by German fighters. The Tempest was effective in the low-level interception role, including against newly developed jet-propelled aircraft like the Messerschmitt Me 262.