Can anyone out there give me some info on the difference between the two types? They look almost identical to me, & neither one seems to get much press compared to Spits, Mustangs or T-bolts. I’m building a 1/32 Typhoon for
the D-day group build over on the armor side–didn’t want to post this question over there where the panzerheads could laugh at me.
Tempest was a larger and faster bird. Although they look similar they shared very few parts. Wings were completely different. But some Typhoons were fitted with Typhoon Tailplanes… Really Apples and Oranges. The Tempest was a complete redesign ot Typhoon. I liked both aircraft. I do believe Typhoon was a better Panzer Cracker.
Yup…but the Tempest was the better V-1 killer [;)]
If I remember correctly, the Tempest was developed because the Typhoon didn’t deliver good medium and high altitude performance (and it also had a weak tail assembly). The Typhoon was relegated to ground attack duties, for which it was very well suited. I know very little about the Tempest, but if it chased V-1s the high-altitude performance must have been okay[:D]. Hmm, great birds, must build one someday… (oh no, here I go again, lol).
Hawker Typhoon Ib early
Hawker Tempest.
G’day mobydick,
The 32 scale kit is the H.Typhoon Ib ‘Car Door’, the Typhoon photo shows the ‘Bubble’ canopy.
The Hawker Typhoon was origianaly designed as a replacement to the Hawker Hurricane, but due to rear fuselage fractures and constant engine problems, it was almost scrapped but found a second life in ground attack, later Typhoon Ib’s were deployed as V-1 hunters. The Tempest is a developement of the Typhoon as the photo’s show. They had the same engine untill the Tempest was fitted with the Radial engine at the end of the War, as a radial engine fighter it became the Sea Fury.
Hope this helps.
Rob.
Note: sorry about the tempest photo, it was scanned from a book titled ‘British Wraplanes of World War II’.
Great info, fellas. They’re pretty aggressive, tough-looking birds, aren’t they? That’s one
of the things that always attracted me to this aircraft. Does anybody know if they had
much of a record in air-to-air combat other that blasting doodlebugs?
The Tempests were active over the beaches on June 8th and shot down some 109s…while they did mainly take out V-1s, they were more than capable dogfighters as well…
There were actually three designs of the Tempest and the Tempest V was adopted for production.
The Tempest I used the Sabre engine but had the radiators incoporated into the wing root, eliminating the large “chin” radiator.
The Tempest II had the Bristol Centaurus radial engine and redevelopment and refinement of this airframe/engine combo (as Lobbie notes) became the Sea Fury.
The Tempest V had the same engine/radiator configuration as the Typhoon although the Sabre’s performance was increased and a four bladed prop was added.
Also, as butchy noted, the wings of the Typhoon and Tempest were completely different. The Tempest had semi-elliptical wings, similar to the Spitfire and P-47 Thunderbolt. Another major feature of the Tempest’s was that it was some 5-6 inches thinner at the root. This helped address the problem of compressibility and increased dive speeds.
The taiplane was strengthened and redesigned - a small fillet was added to increase directional stability.
One other major change was the relocation of the main fuel tank. With the thinner wings, the Tempest’s main fuel tank was relocated to the nose of the aircraft between the oil tank (immediately in front of the cockpit) and the engine, although it retained smaller wing tanks in the same location as the Typhoon.
Interesting stuff Murph. Thanks for the update. BTW: look at my quote![(-D][(-D][(-D][(-D][(-D]
The Temest was pretty much a new design, in spite of the similarity in appearance. Late Typhoons were fitted with Tempest tailplanes, I believe in an attempt to finally cure the rear fuselage weakness in the design, but which they never fully got rid of. The relocation of the main fuel tank to in front of the cockpit lengthened the nose considerably compared to the Typhoon, and whereas the Typhoon had a very thick wing vaguely similar in shape to that of the Hurricane, the Tempest wing was a new much thinner laminar flow wing. The Mk V, and later Mk VI, had the Sabre engine, though I cannot tell you how the later mark differed. The Mk II had the Centaurus engine, but I believe more ended up being exported than used by the RAF. This was the direct ancestor of the Fury and Sea Fury. Whilst only a couple of Sabre Tempests survive, there are a number of Mk II’s being restored. Unfortunately the poor old Typhoon only managed one survivor and a couple of cockpits.
Is there a model out there for either one of these?
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/9f/Hawker_Tempest_I_HM599.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Hawker_Tempest_II_LA602_-_Prototype.jpg
Or woyuld one need a conversion kit?
Thanks,
Dave
I know Eduard made two kits in 48th. Early and late Tempests. They may be a bit hard to find however, but are out there.
MDC has one in 32 scale also, but all resin and etch. It’s a beautifull kit but requires a fair bit of skill.
I’m not sure, but Acadamy may have did one in 72, but I’m really reaching on this…help?[%-)]
I have the Eduard 1/48 Tempest and it is a nice kit. I also have the Hasegawa 1/48 Typhoon. I have always prefered the Typhoon over the Tempest though. The Typhoon is a much chunkier meaner looking plane. The Typhoon was the plane out pounding the ground troops and throwing 20mm shells through the thin deck armor or the German tanks. The Tempest is the one dogfighting up at 25,000 feet with the Me 109’s and Fw190’s. Either way neither one gets the recognition it deserves. The Spitfires and Mustangs got all the glory.
Soulcrusher
There is a 1/72 kit by Matchbox that makes into a Tempest Mk II or Mk V, AMT also boxed this kit in the US. It can be a little hard to find. Model Design and Construction (MDC) makes a conversion in 1/48 that is pretty nice looking in the bag, but I haven’t built mine yet so I don’t know about the fit. The detail on the parts is good. There are no decals included.
Getting back into the hobby, I started looking at them, then wondering what the difference was between them,(aside from the name).
The big gaping maw reminds me of an A-7 Corsair a bit…like it’s ready to swallow somebody whole.
I have a “History Makers” 1/32 scale from Revell…anyone have any experience with that one?
I built the History Makers Tempest some 20 years ago. It was nice build, typical of those old large scale Revell kits with decent cockpit and engine. It looks like the original aircraft, but I am not sure on the accuracy. With a bit of detailing work it can be turned into a real eye catcher. I personally have a soft spot for those old 32nd scale Revell kits from building them back in the early/mid 70’s. Unfortunately mine did not survive to this day to show here, but it was certainly one of my better builds from that era (late 80s).
French ace Pierre Clostermann’s book The Big Show talks extensively about his time in the Tempest V. I built the 1/72 kit of the Tempest V, used his markings of course.
He had some very interesting comments comparing Tempests to other aircraft, both Allied and Axis.