LA607 at Florida Air Museum at Sun 'n Fun, Lakeland.
| Summary of History | ||
| Date | Note | Code/Serial |
| 1943 | Built at Hawker Aircraft Ltd at Langley (Contract ACFT/1986/C.23(a) | LA607 |
| 18 September 1943 | First flight. | LA607 |
| 1943-? | Used for Bristol Centaurus development. | LA607 |
| 1955-1963 | RAF Cranfield, College Of Aeronautics. | LA607 |
| 1967- | Skyfame Museum, Staverton & Duxford. | DN-J/LA607 |
| 1980 | Imperial War Museum, Duxford, Cambs | LA607 |
| 14 April 1983 | Sold to Kermit A. Weeks. | LA607 |
| 1983- | Static display at Florida Air Museum at Sun 'n Fun, Lakeland. | LA607 |
| Summer 2014 | In storage at Kermit Weeks' Fantasy of Flight HQ, Polk City. | LA607 |
LA607 was the second Mk. II prototype and first flew on 18 September 1943. It was used for Bristol Centaurus development during its active career.
LA607 survived as an instructional airframe at RAF Cranfield, College Of Aeronautics, between 1955 - 1963. LA607 was aquired by Skyfame Museum, Staverton & Duxford, in 1967. When the collection was forced to relocate the Tempest was moved to Imperial War Museum, Duxford, Cambs, in 1980. But before the Tempest was transfered to IWM it was sold in April 1983 to Kermit Weeks, USA, and was displayed at Florida Air Museum at Sun 'n Fun, Lakeland.
In summer 2014 the Tempest was returned to Kermit Weeks and is at the moment in storage at Fantasy of Flight HQ, Polk City.
At Skyfame Museum, Staverton & Duxford, with "fake codes" DN-J.
Restoration progress reports
Posted on Youtube in August 2015 by Kermit Weeks:
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In March 2016 Kermit Weeks writes on Facebook:"We have pulled our Tempest II over to help in the restoration of our Tempest V (EJ693). At this point, it doesn't make sense not to do BOTH of them side by side as one will help the other with the Tempest II being basically complete!" |
Posted on Youtube on 3 July 2019 by Kermit Weeks:
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Sources:
The Hawker Typhoon & Tempest Story by Chris Thomas
Hawker Tempest (4+ Publication)
Peter Goodearl
FlyPast May 2002
FlyPast Aug 2014