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Old May 26th, 2007, 10:05 AM
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Lightbulb Re: The Hawker Tempest

Sorry, Tony, you're quite right and I over-simplified things a little.

To be a bit more precise - Hawker Tornado HG641 can be seen as an important step in the development process of the radial-engined Tempest/Sea Fury. It first flew in October 1941 using the 18-cylinder Bristol Centaurus engine and underwent a continual programme of trials throughout the following months with Hawkers and the RAE at Farnborough. The Faber incident happened in June 1942 and the Fw190 was taken to Farnborough where for sure there was considerable interest in how the enemy had produced such an effective radial-engined single-seater. The finalized version of the Tornado flew in November 1942 with improved engine-cooling and exhaust systems.

So it was indeed a continual development process of Tornado/Typhoon/Tempest/Sea Fury - with perhaps just a little soupcon of Fw190 added for good measure...
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