United Kingdom : Tempest Mk V

The Tempest was conceived of as a high-speed Typhoon, a fighter-bomber created by the Hawker company in 1941. The Typhoon had many deficiencies, such a heavy engine with insufficient structural strength, relatively low speed, poor maneuverability and climb rate, and because of these it could not compete with the latest fighter of the time, the German Focke-Wolf F.W.190. The Typhoon’s specialty was supporting ground troops.

The Tempest inherited the traits of its older brother, but experts took into account Hawker’s negative experience and did their best to refine the aerodynamic shape of the new aircraft. The wing was slightly shorter, the profile more slender, and the back edge elliptical. To increase the plane’s short range, another fuel tank was added to the fuselage, which accounts for the increased length of the aircraft. The tail section was modified, as well, most noticeably by the addition of a vertical fin.