Hawker Tempest Mk V

Hawker Tempest Mk V    JN751   R-B
150 Wing, Wg Cdr R. P. Beamont OC, Newchurch, June 1944.

The Hawker Tempest Mk V was a considerable aerodynamic refinement of the Hawker Typhoon, its new wing in particular giving a marked improvement in performance with the same Napier Sabre engine. Issued initially to 3 Squadron in April 1944 the Tempest Mk V was used on interception duties, and by the summer it was in the forefront of the battle against the VI flying bombs.
Tempest Mk V JN751 started with 3 Squadron but was quickly taken over by the 150 Wing Leader, Wg.Cdr. Roland Beamont, at Newchurch. He made the first Tempest air-to-air claim with this aircraft on the 8th of June 1944, and scored most of his thirty-one VI claims in it. As a Wing Leader Beamont had his initials as the aircraft’s code and a Wing Commander’s pennant, albeit the wrong way round! He also had a yellow spinner, continuing from that on his Typhoon when boss of 609 Squadron. JN751 was replaced by a later Tempest Mk V in September, refurbished by Hawker at Langley and issued to 287 Squadron at the end of the year. It crashed in bad visibility on the Isle of Sheppey on 18 May 1945.
Sabre-engined Tempests continued in service with the RAF until 1955; and ‘Roly’ Beamont joined the English Electric aircraft company as a test pilot where he was responsible for the Canberra, the Lightning and the TSR.2.

Scale 1:72    Wingspan 7″ (178 mm)
Base size 7.71″ (196 mm) square (No. 5)
Weight not including base 11 ozs (311 grams)