Two Hawker Typhoon Restorations
Gnome de PPRuNe
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: Too close to Croydon for comfort
Age: 60
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Certainly be nice to see the Centaurus Tempest II of which Richard Grace has (almost?) completed the rebuild at Sywell - originally one of a few recovered from India by Doug Arnold in 1979 and sold on to Richard's dad Nick and Chris Horsley, then to Autokraft, etc, etc...
You only have to look at the B.P. Balliol - The top kneddies decided to use up some of their large stock of spare Merlin engines to power this trainer - the Merlin was hardly a suitable engine for an advanced trainer but hey we had 'loads in stock'.
The Meteor would get its chance at TT jobs soon enough
There is a 'Sea Balliol' down at Newquay in the Classic Museum (complete with folding wings). I had no idea it was there so do not know how complete or original it is.
Built by Boulton Paul Heritage Trust - it looks quite nice although close up you can tell it is a part replica.
The later Meteors could do a lot of the jobs, but especially those that required a longer endurance or range would be best left to a piston-engined type at the time. The Meteor F.8 had a 1 hr endurance only, I don't know if that includes reserves or not.
By the time though that the Meteor was settled into Target/Flag towing it had a minimum of an additional ventral fuel tank (where the cable 'hooked on') - the 'proper' TT versions usually had the ventral tank + 2x wing drop tanks.
Tempest 2
Certainly be nice to see the Centaurus Tempest II of which Richard Grace has (almost?) completed the rebuild at Sywell - originally one of a few recovered from India by Doug Arnold in 1979 and sold on to Richard's dad Nick and Chris Horsley, then to Autokraft, etc, etc...
Gnome de PPRuNe
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: Too close to Croydon for comfort
Age: 60
Posts: 12,723
Received 354 Likes
on
197 Posts
Tempest II gets nearer to first flight at Sywell...
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