Warplanes of the UK: Hawker Tornado

Hawker Tornado

(SDASM Photo)

Hawker Tornado (Serial No. HG641), with a Centaurus IV engine. This aircraft did not have the windows behind the pilot and used hinged doors on the landing gear to completely conceal the main wheels. This was also tried on the prototypes before switching to a separate inner door.

The Hawker Tornado was a British single-seat fighter aircraft design of the Second World War for the Royal Air Force as a replacement for the Hawker Hurricane. The planned production of Tornados was cancelled after the engine it was designed to use, the Rolls-Royce Vulture, proved unreliable in service. A parallel airframe that used the Napier Sabre engine continued into production as the Hawker Typhoon. (Wikipedia)

(SDASM Photo)

(RAF Photo)

Hawker Tornado (Serial No. HG641), with a Centaurus IV engine. HG641 was built to serve as a testbed for the Bristol Centaurus engine. Seen here with its original three-blade propeller, cowling, and single large exhaust manifold. The silhouette of the oil cooler can just be seen between the main landing gear.

(RAF Photo)

HG641 with the new four-blade propeller and revised cowling. The oil cooler was located in the large duct under the engine.

(SDASM Photo)

Hawker Tornado (Serial No. P5224), with enlarged tail. Note the carburetor intake atop the engine cowling.

(RAF Photo)

Hawker Tornado (Serial No. P5224). The second Tornado prototype with the chin radiator and windows behind the pilot to help improve vision. The aircraft now resembles a Typhoon, with which it shared many components.

(RAF Photo)

Hawker Tornado (Serial No. R7936), the first and only production Tornado, was used as a propeller testbed after its initial flight testing. The aircraft is seen here with Rotol contra-rotating propellers, which had a smaller diameter than the standard, single-rotation propellers used on the Tornado and Typhoon. Note that the aircraft did not have the windows behind the pilot like the second prototype.