Ducted spinner Tempest NV768

[ChristianK]

In late 1944 or early 1945 the Hawker company test-fitted Tempest Mk.V NV768 with a ducted spinner for tests with the Napier engine. A picture of the plane can be found, for example, in Squadron/Signal's volume on the Typhoon and Tempest, page 49.

Now does anybody know when exactly this modification was carried out? Was Tempest NV768 an ancestor of the Tempest II-programme or had the Napier test nothing to do with it?

Regards,
Christian

[Tony Kambic]

In my copy of Hawker (An Aircraft Album #5, Arco Publishing 1973), on pg. 91 shows a photograph of the front end of a Tempest with the ducted spinner and a caption stating in was NV768 having a ducted spinner added to an annular radiator. On pg. 93 is NV768 in flight without the ducted spinner but you can see the exhausts stacks of an in-line engine and the circular cowling. The caption states that this is a Tempest V with an experimental annular radiator (during 1946).

[George Hopp]

In "The Typhoon & Tempest story" by Thomas and Shores,pp111, they write, "As with the Typhoon, Napier investigated the efficiency of annular radiators, converting two Mk Vs, EJ518 and NV768, the latter employing a Sabre V and a huge ducted spinner with the air intake ahead of the propeller blades. Although the installations were successful they did not result in any changes to the Tempest production models."

[Neil Stirling]

Some more information here

http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchi...0-%201659.html

Neil.

[ChristianK]

Wow, thanks Neil for this link! It reads that this Tempest was actually a Mark V upgraded to Mark VI standard and it seems that the ducted spinner conversion was carried out rather for turboprop development than for the actual Tempest programme. It also seems that this conversion was done well after the war, instead of 1944/45. Now this really sheds some new light onto the issue for me, thanks again!