Tempest Mk.V

Special Hobby 1/32

The Hawker Tempest is a British fighter aircraft that was primarily used in its Mk.V form by the Royal Air Force (RAF) in the later stages of the Second World War. The Tempest, originally known as the Typhoon II, was a significantly 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 at low altitude was the fastest single-engine propeller-driven aircraft of the war.

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.

Tempest Mk. V – F. Mk. V – (F.5)

Single-seat fighter aircraft for the RAF, fitted with the Napier Sabre Mk. IIA, IIB or IIC, 801 built at Langley.

• Tempest F. Mk. V Series 1 – Initial production version of the Tempest Mk V. Series 1 aircraft were fitted with four long-barrel 20 mm (.79 in) Hispano Mk. II cannons and continued to use some Typhoon components. 100 built.
• Tempest F. Mk. V Series 2 – Later production version of the Tempest Mk. V, starting from Series 2. From Series 2 aircraft were fitted with four short-barrel 20 mm Mark V Hispano cannons and other production line changes. 701 built.