Kermit Weeks Napier Sabre hot-rod?.

[J.A.W.]

Re: Kermit Weeks Napier Sabre hot-rod?.

& another Kiwi Tempest ace Warren 'Smokey' Schrader, gives his view..

"The Tempest was a brute force aeroplane - a great big aeroplane with a great big engine...

...For its size it was exceptionally manoeuverable, & that fast rate of roll made it quite competitive

with most of the German aircraft we met, & I always felt our armament - the 4 cannon -

was a great advantage & it was an excellent gun platform..."

[J.A.W.]

Re: Kermit Weeks Napier Sabre hot-rod?.

& From the book 'High Speed Flight' P.62;

"The end of Sabre production came much earlier than the appearance of the last examples of its

rivals : this was a pity, because by all accounts the Tempest 6 could have dominated the new

& wild era of air racing - which forms a postscript to the wartime story."

[J.A.W.]

Re: Kermit Weeks Napier Sabre hot-rod?.

& a Test Pilot view.. R. Beamont wrote..

"Each flight brought greater enjoyment of & confidence in the crisp ailerons,

firm though responsive elevator, good directional stability & damping giving high

promise of superior aiming capability & exhilarating performance & with all this,

magnificent combat vision with windscreen forward frame members thinned

down to a bare minimum & superb unobstructed vision aft of the windscreen arch

through the fully transparent sliding canopy.

On every convenient occasion on the way back from tests I would zoom climb,

wing-over & rack the Tempest round in stall boundary turns simulating combat,

looking over my shoulder down the fuselage & under my own tailplane for the 1st

time in my experience."

[J.A.W.]

Re: Kermit Weeks Napier Sabre hot-rod?.

Reno race fans might get a kick out of this [caption] comment from
"The British Fighter Since 1912'..

"The fastest propeller-driven Hawker aeroplanes were the Sabre VII-powered
Furies, of which LA 610, shown here, reached a speed of about 485 mph TAS
- by 1945 of academic interest only."

[Victor Archer]

Re: Kermit Weeks Napier Sabre hot-rod?.

Here's the 2nd Sabre powered Fury:

[J.A.W.]

Re: Kermit Weeks Napier Sabre hot-rod?.

Thanks V.A. for that.. yeah.. she sure is a purty thing..

& the source of the purr.. for those with a technical interest in firing orders..

http://www.enginehistory.org/fo/FO.shtml

[J.A.W.]

Re: Kermit Weeks Napier Sabre hot-rod?.

Attachment didn't work, sorry..

[J.A.W.]

Re: Kermit Weeks Napier Sabre hot-rod?.

Flight performance placard for wartime Tempest V,&
note: max weak mixture cruising speed of 390mph @ 20,000ft..

https://www.wwiiaircraftperformance.org/tempest/tempest-v-ads-sabre-IIb.jpg

[J.A.W.]

Re: Kermit Weeks Napier Sabre hot-rod?.

Quite a package you've got there Mr Halford..

http://picturegallery.imeche.org/ViewLarger.aspx?PID=466&RAID=30

[J.A.W.]

Re: Kermit Weeks Napier Sabre hot-rod?.

Performance figures for a Sabre-Fury in military spec..
..see, she just needs a bit of Reno-style hot-rodding..

https://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1946/1946%20-%202181.html

[J.A.W.]

Re: Kermit Weeks Napier Sabre hot-rod?.

The other surviving Sabre-Tempest is in the RAF museum, here's some history..

http://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/documents/collections/72-A-571-Tempest-TT5-NV778.pdf

[J.A.W.]

Re: Kermit Weeks Napier Sabre hot-rod?.

R. Beamont describes Tempest combat-service characteristics .. at Reno heights.

"In wide-ranging low-level strikes a maximum cruising speed of 365mph IAS,
coupled with superbly precise controls, facilitated target area penetration."

[J.A.W.]

Re: Kermit Weeks Napier Sabre hot-rod?.

More from R. Beamont, from his memoir 'Test Pilot'.. on test-flying the Tempest..

"In the last months of 1943 the emphasis at Langley was on setting the Tempest V
production standard...In this phase, with emphasis on clearing the extreme corners of
the flight envelope, `729 was dived repeatedly to the 545mph Vne - an unusual number
to read on an ASI in 1943.

Even at these speeds...the Tempest remained smooth, buffet-free, stable & well damped in roll.
It just felt fast, efficient, undramatic & very good indeed.

In order to confirm this was not an isolated aspect, every opportunity was taken after completion
of the scheduled tasks to 'bounce' any targets that presented themselves such as the Typhoons
on test from Langley & itinerant Spitfires.

On one occasion, a strange twin-boom jet was intercepted
- which turned out to be the prototype Vampire -
in the hands of Geoffrey De Havilland from Hatfield.

Generally the pilots concerned would try to 'mix it' which gave good practical experience, & the
way in which the Tempest V could intercept, out-manoeuvre & then track these evading targets
accurately in the directly-reflected gun-sight was proof positive.

This fighter was going to be a winner."

So.. could be indicative of some Reno potential?

[NOVA]

Re: Kermit Weeks Napier Sabre hot-rod?.

The other surviving Sabre-Tempest is in the RAF museum, here's some history..

http://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/document...-TT5-NV778.pdf

I got to see that Tempest this past March while I was in London for work. Pretty amazing.

[J.A.W.]

Re: Kermit Weeks Napier Sabre hot-rod?.

Thanks so much for posting those pix, Nova..

Typical bloody RAF, the ONE & ONLY Tempest they saved, & is it displayed as the splendid fighter
that saved untold Londoners lives, & took the war right up to Hitler's jets?

..No.. they paint it & hang it up as example of a drudge.. Target Towing.. jeeze..