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| Tempest Mk. II MW376 |
This Bristol-built Tempest served with the RAF as MW376, and was transferred to Hawkers in May 1948, along with 113 other Tempests. These were refurbished, fitted with long range fuel tanks, and sold to the Royal Indian Air Force in 1948 and delivered as HA564. It's thought to have served with No.4 Squadron.
MW376 is one of seven ex-Indian Air Force Tempests recovered in 1979 by Doug Arnold and Warbirds of GB Ltd. It was transfered to Tangmere Flight, UK, in 1980, Chris Horslet in 1988 and a syndicate in Stamford in 1990. Restoration work on this aircraft began in 1991 at Spanhoe, Lincolnshire, in the hands of Windmill Aviation, and the project was registered G-BSHW. (Where the photo above is taken.) Restoration work was halted in 1993, at it was stored at Audley End. In 1996 it was sold to Phillipe Dennis, in Romans, France. In 2000 it was acquired by Jim Perry and was stored in France.
In March 2012 MW376 was sold by Airborne Attitude, LLC to a "New Zealand based client", and is going to be restored to flying condition by Pioneer Aero.
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Summary of History |
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| Date | Note | Code/Serial |
|
1944 |
Built at Bristol Aeroplane Co, Banwell by (Contract ACFT/3210/C.23(a) |
MW376 |
|
? |
Thought to have been used at the Handling Squadron. |
MW376 |
|
?-1948 |
Stored at 20 Maintainence Unit, Aston Down. |
MW376 |
|
May 1948 |
Bought by Hawker Aircraft Ltd from surplus RAF stocks. |
HA564 |
|
1949 |
Sold and delivered to Royal Indian Air Force (RIAF). |
HA564 |
|
1949-1953 |
Thought to have served with RIAF No.4 Sqn. |
HA564 |
|
1953-1979 |
Advanced training role, later in open storage at Poona. |
HA564 |
|
1979 |
Recovered by Warbirds of GB Ltd, Blackbushe. |
HA564 |
|
1980 |
Tangmere Flight, UK. |
MW376 |
|
1988 |
C.P. Horslet, UK. |
MW376 |
|
1990 |
Windmill Aviation, Spanhoe. |
MW376 |
|
June 10 1991 |
David Martin, Spanhoe Lodge, Northants, UK |
G-BSHW /MW376 |
|
1996 |
Phillipe Dennis, Romans, France |
MW376 |
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2000 |
Jim Perry (Stored in France) |
MW376 |
|
2008 |
Scheduled to move from France to the US |
MW376 |
|
2012 |
Sold by Airborne Attitude, LLC to a "New Zealand based client", and is going to be restored to flying condition by Pioneer Aero. |
MW376 |
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Do you have more information or is something wrong? Any corrections to this list are most welcome. |
| In March 2012 Paul McSweeny reports: |
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In March 2012 Paul McSweeny, at Pioneer Aero, reports that MW376 was sold by Airborne Attitude, LLC to a "New Zealand based client", and is going to be restored to flying condition by Pioneer Aero. |
| In May 2012 Paul McSweeny reports: |
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MW 376 is seeing the light of day for the first time in quite a few years. The complete project is now in transit to New Zealand. Due here about the second week of July. |
| In August 2012 Paul McSweeny reports: |
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Our latest project, the Hawker Tempest Mk. II, arrived on 20 July 2012. The Tempest MkII is a total rebuild to flying condition. When finished it will be based here at Ardmore and will be painted to honour those who flew the mighty Typhoon and Tempest during WWII. |
| On 16 August 2012 Paul McSweeny reports: |
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A big day for us all on Tuesday with visitors coming in to view the Tempest. Guest’s of honour was Jack Stafford and his wife Edith, Jack needs no real introduction and we were pleased to be able to re-unite him with the Tempest after last sitting in one in 1946.
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| On 27 August 2012 Paul McSweeny reports: |
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We were hoping to keep this secret, but with the amount of interest that was never going to happen. So here is the photo of our trial fit up, this is to make sure before restoration gets into full swing that there are no major glitches in alignment and symmetry. All looks good!
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| In October 2012 Paul McSweeny reports: |
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It has been a busy couple of weeks with a lot of visitors through the shop. On the Tempest we are now pulling the entire forward section of the fuselage to pieces, once it has been cleaned/checked it will be painted silver before reassembly. The RH wing is now fully secure in the jig and work has started on its restoration. We also have on its way this week a crate of sheet aluminium which we have purchased in the UK, all we need now is rivets and hardware! |
| In April 2013 Ashley Lamb reports: |
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Ashley Lamb has visited Paul McSweeny and Pioneer Aero: Paul says there is very little corrosion in the air frame. Centre section is finished. |
Images:
Ken Ellis
© Key Publishing 2002, reproduced with permission of FlyPast Magazine
Airborne Attitude, LLC
Paul McSweeny, Pioneer Aero
Benjaminn Gilbert
Ashley Lamb
Text sources:
Paul McSweeny, Pioneer Aero
Ashley Lamb
FlyPast Sept 1992
FlyPast May 2002
Airborne Attitude, LLC
Bristol Aircraft Worldwide Survey