SA-I(EJ693) was built at Hawker´s Langley factory in the summer of 1944. It was delivered to No. 20 MU (Maintenence Unit), Aston Down, on August 24 where it was brought up to operational specifications before being delivered to 486 Squadron at Newchurch on September 3rd.

The brand new EJ693 was allotted the code-letters "SA-I" and chosen by the "A" Flight Commander, F/Lt Harvey Sweetman. He was flying his new aircraft on September 13 when 486 and 3 Squadrons attacked a V-2 launch site near the Hague. S/Ldr Wigglesworth of 3 Squadron crashed and was killed in the target area, and two days later Sweetman was posted to replace him.

Although several pilots flew EJ693 during September its new "owner" was P/O Bevan Hall. On return from its fifth patrol from Grimbergen (the same day the Squadron was moved to Volkel) EJ693 developed engine trouble. P/O Hall pulled off a skillful forced landing just short of base, and was rescued unhurt. His Tempest was declared "Category B" (beyond repair on site) and subsequently collected by 409 RSU (Repair and Salvage Unit). By the time of the crash EJ693 had only flown 28 hours and 38 minutes in 21 operational sorties.

 

 

 

 

 

 

EJ693 was adopted by 151 RU (Repair Unit) as a test bench on its Sabre Engine Repair Section, at Wevelgem (near Brussels). Repaired or rebuilt Sabres were installed and run up in the aircraft to test all systems, temperatures and pressures. They were then dismounted again, packed and dispatched to the field squadron repair echelons as ready for action! During the 1970s the RAF Museum acquired the fuselage of EJ693 from the Technical College at Delft, in the Netherlands. How and when the college obtained the aircraft is still a mystery, but there is good evidence that it was in Delft by December 1946 or 1948, and that wings, tailplane and engine were missing by 1971 when the fuselage was moved to the Dutch Air Force base at Woensdrecht. The college held airframes and components from up to 29 types of historic aircraft throughout the postwar years. The policy was to keep only parts of particular significance, so complete airframes were often dismantled and those sections not needed were scrapped. By 1987 a change in funding policy forced economies upon the RAF Museum, which in turn provided the opportunity for a remarkable swap. There was already a complete Tempest V (NV778) on display at Hendon, but the museum badly wanted a Tempest II. It just so happended that someone else had a Tempest II (ex-IAF HA 457, now known to be PR536) but dearly wanted a Tempest V.
It was just two years since Nick Grace had fulfilled his first dream. when he test flew the Spitfire IX which he had been restoring for six years. Now he seized the opportunity to realize another dream for although he loved the Spitfire, he admired the Tempest for its speed, power, toughness, and above all its magnificent Napier Sabre engine.
In November 1987 the two Tempests were exchanged. The Tempest V which Nick had acquired was still wearing its original warpaint, and was readily identifiable as EJ693, SA - I of 486 NZ Squadron.

 

Bill Cottee and several ex-Napier personnel have been able to find a number of rare Sabre drawings, manuals and technical publications, and their first-hand expertise will be invaluable resource during the restoration. Nick belived that he needed at least three Sabre engines before a full flying restoration of the Tempest was practical, however having secured one in October 1988, he decided to make a start. It was then that his dream ended in a fatal car accident. But did it ? Despite such a cruel blow his wife Carolyn never for a moment entertained the idea of parting either with the Spitfire or Tempest. The work on the Tempest begun, the fuselage was in good shape, having flown minimal hours and always carefully stored. Wings and tailplanes was no problem, spares having been culled from Indian Tempest IIs. But in 1992 the Tempest was sold to Kermit Weeks and the restoration continued at PPS (Personel Plane Services). PPS have to create much of the aircraft's structure from new, using panels and parts from the RAF Museum's example as pattern.

 

 

 

 

 

 

"The wings are coming along, under rebuild in Norfolk. Somebody else is slowly progressing with the elevators as they were bare shells with lots missing and quite a lot of corrosion, so requiring lots of new parts. As for the fuselage, our part of the deal, the cowls now fit properly after lots of tweaking. We are undergoing negotiations to building a header tank. The canopy is fully restored, as are some cockpit parts, all being stored ready for re-fitting. The tailplane is now jigged and we are working on being finished with it after Christmas sometime.
Kermit Weeks is still unsure what to do with it as we are restoring everything to airworthy spec on the airframe, but the engine is the major problem. Who would restore a Sabre??? And finish it as a reliable engine??? Not many people, and with the know how of 50 years ago gone I, and many others, doubt that it will ever get off the ground as the CAA would not certify an aircraft which could have an engine failure on take off, which is a possibility. It is possible though that it will be finished to taxiable status but that is a long way into the future yet. If we were able to get a clear run at it we could have her finished in 3 maybe 4 years, but we have other projects and filmwork commitments to deal with so you can't give a reliable date to work to really.
We are missing quite a few parts: - Rudder parts: ribs, rudder post castings (fixing the rudder to the sternpost) tailwheel and associated system parts, trimmer system parts (for all flight controls).
- Any elevator parts.
- Other parts:seat parts, engine firewall items, all radio and oxygen systems parts/assemblies, gyro-gunsight and associated systems, gun camera system etc, coolant system parts including thermostats etc."

 

 

 

 

"693 is currently still awaiting new horizontal tailplane carry through spars, there has been a big problem trying to source the correct material but hopefully in the next few months we will see the new spars arrive. Then it's just a matter of installing them and finishing off the assembly, most of the work is done. The wings are still in the same state they were in the last time I spoke to you as the contractor who is restoring them has a few more pressing restorations to finish. Kermit isn't really spending much on restoration at the moment as he has a major building project at Fantasy of Flight where they are totally redeveloping the site."

 

 

"Currently fitting the horizontal tailplane fairings, they were copied from NV778's fairings by they guy who restored the tailplanes and elevators. The wings are being worked on by Hull Aero up in Norfolk and they should be completed sometime next year, to airworthy standard. The fuselage is the next thing to tackle but that is dependant on what Kermit wants to do as he has other projects which are taking up his resources at present. As things stand the airframe will be completed to static condition but with all major assemblies completed to airworthy."

 

 

 

"No good news on our Tempest I'm afraid. We hope to re-start on the Mk. V next spring, once we finish the Spitfire Mk. I (AR213). Of which I've attached a recent pic. Hopefully the Spitfire and our C-47 will be at Legends 2007!"

 

 

 

During my trip to UK and the Flying Legends 2007, Tom Woodhouse kindly arranged so I and my Swedish friends could visit Personel Plane Services on Friday July 6th before the Airshow. "Unfortunately" I can report that the EJ693 fuselage was hidden in a corner in the hangar, covered by dust. The beautifully restored tailplane/fin was still in it's jigg placed by the side of the fuselage. What Tom said was that the Tempest airframe will be restored to airworthy condition. The difference in price doing this and just to restore it to static condition is minimal. But to restore a Napier Sabre to running condition would cost around £1.500.000 to £ 2.000.000, there is no guarantee of reliability... In other words, the airframe will be restored to flying condition but it will most likely never fly again while part of Kermit's collection. A big thanks to Tom for taking his time showing us around in the PPS hangar!

 

 

"If things go well this year we plan to get the Tempest assembled for Kermit to view so we can all see what we're deling with and what depth of restoration he would like to achieve. We've got to get TE184 airworthy and then it's time to press on with EJ693."

 

 

"Just collected the cockpit from Hull Aero where it was being used to check the spar shimming on the wings that are being restored for the old girl. They are looking good now, plans are to start skinning in the next few weeks, the undercarriage is also nearly finished, everything related with the wings needed a huge amount of effort to get into good order seeing as they had been sat on an Indian airfield for quite a considerable period, much of that time full of monsoon water and mud!
 
I also collected the two props we have for the project, one is an ex-Vickers Varsity Rotol prop and the other is a Dh Hydromatic type as used on the Handley-Page Hastings we think. Both will require re-working to attain the correct blade profile depending upon which one we use but that's not a major problem. Our main problem is trying to find a spinner of the correct profile, the Varsity type is not correct as far as we can tell but the Hastings type maybe ok.

I'm also pressing on with the monocoque section of the fuselage where there was damage to be repaired from her forced-landing in Holland, you can see where the handle for the oxygen bottle access door on the underside has been forced aft, bent the handle and torn the skin, it also cracked the angle which is riveted to the front of the monocoque and dented the underside skin just aft of the join with the cockpit section, it's a shame that Bev Hall isn't able to see what could be considered to be 'his' aircraft now, they were bitter days in '45."

 

 

"I continue on to London to check on the final stages of my Hawker Tempest V project, which we are bringing up to displayable condition. Everything has been rebuilt to airworthy standards but we are currently just trying to get it displayable for Fantasy of Flight. I have two Napier Sabre engines for it and one day hope to make it fly!"

 

Source: Kermit Weeks Blog

 

 

 

"The plan is that we are to assemble the aircraft at Booker later this year once the wings are finished, finish all the fairings etc, paint it and then pack it in a container so it can go on display at 'Fantasy of Flight' as a static exhibit with the possibility of a restoration to airworthy condition in the future.

 

In the next month I'm planning on assembling the cockpit now that the repainting of the tubes is complete, then gradually refurbish the fuselage etc after that. We will also need to make a full set of wing flaps as the project did not include any, along with elevator and rudder hinges."

 

 

 

 

 

While waiting for Tempest news, have a look at Bianchi Aviation and PPS' website (click the image above)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sources:

Tom Woodhouse

Kermit Weeks Blog
Steve Fletcher
Key Publishing 2002, reproduced with permission of FlyPast Magazine
Christian Béchir, Avions de Légende
Graham Berry

Roger Jones
Brian Borland
Hugh Smallwood
This page was last updated 20 October 2009.