Sea Fury Queries

This will be interesting 😀 😀 😀

What don’t you think?

Flood, I was about to argue with you that the Tempest II was quite a lot bigger.
The Fury/Sea Fury was planned as a smaller, lighter and faster Tempest follow-on, omitting the wing centre-section and fitting the outer wing sections together on the centreline.
I’ve never consciously compared the respective sizes before. I wonder what happened to the original plan. It ended up with 2′ 8″ less wingspan and 2″ shorter.
Not a huge difference in my opinion. 🙂

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Don’t think sooooooooo

VR930’s engine rebuild is complete, but until they get the special fuel JDK mentions it will not fly. Understandable really.
A Sea Fury without a working Centaurus ‘glides like a brick’.

Is the ex-OFMC Iraqi Fury still operating in South Africa? And what happened to the red ex-German target tug that left Duxford for Booker (?) for restoration for Kermit Weeks?

Sea Furies.

Always one of my fave a/c. Had a bit of a Hawker week this week too.

OK. Centaurus vs Yank lump. Seems to be sumarised best as follows:

Correct is the Centaurus, no argument. However, almost EVERYONE operating a Centaurus Sea Fury has had an engine failure. The R-3350 is a very reliable engine.

Sleeve valve engines are not inherintly worse, but they are different and need different expertese as well as parts.

Finally, a Centaurus failure often donates the pilot no power plus a five blade air brake up front. Not nice. the R-3350 is a 5th less bad(!) being a four blade prop, and 1/5th more glide is a nice thing to have, as well as a donk that don’t stop, suddenly & unexpectedly.

BTW I prefer Centaurus, but I can see the arguments.

the RNHF according to John Beattie this week are rebuilding their engine, and are having to source a new fuel of higer octaine to help moderate the detonation problem they were having. Melv was there too, so he might be able to add a bit to this…

Cheers

And I’ve only ever seen one on the ground! 🙁

Sea Fury going to NZ- what little I DO know

Hi
I was over at Wanaka and was told by one of the UK visitors from a reputable company that a Sea Fury was in the process of being purchased in the UK for a “Prominant New Zealander” I was of course very interested but then they would venture no more and that was that – Perhaps Graham Orphan may have heard something? So that is what I know – I really hope it is true and results in a “new” Sea Fury for the Kiwis I have been lucky enough to see a few in the air and they do have a special magic all of their own.

Kindest regards
John Parker

They are in the process of restoring the Tempest to flight I believe.

Is the Kermit Weeks Tempest a flier? If not, does it have the potential?

Also, does anyone on the forum have an update on the Tempest Two restoration to fly project (G-TEMT)?

I regularly check the excellent Tempest Homepage for updates (http://user.tninet.se/~ytm843e/tempest.htm) but I’m impatient to know the latest.

Woody

“Could I ask you U.K.gents for some more pics of the TFC Sea Fury,nice to see it progressing.”

Here’s one of her last month.

Hi all,at last,a decent thread that does not contain the words Spitfire or Mustang!!Could I ask you U.K.gents for some more pics of the TFC Sea Fury,nice to see it progressing.Setter,great pics of Fury 308,I started my engineering apprenticeship working for Guido Zuccoli just before 308 was completed so got to have a lot of fun with all 3 furies we restored.The biggest issue with the Centaurus is the availability of sleeves,I believe Paul Morgan was working on this before his untimely death.Most operaters have a set and do not want to part with them,understandably.Great forum,cheers,Pete

If that is the one John Bradshaw has had up for sale for years now then from what i’ve heard it’ll be staying up for sale. Something to do with a price tag way over the top.

I would think that it could be a possibility Dave – the airworthy ex-Iraqi Fury here in the UK is up for sale.

Thanks for the info guys. I agree that the re-engined versions are a great compromise if it means that the aircraft keep flying.

Setter, I’m glad you guys are taking care of the ex-Kiwi one, it still looks absolutely beautiful. What’s this rumour about another coming here? I hope this is true – ah, and I hope it’s isn’t coming from Britain, we’ll never hear the end of it! 🙂

Oh yeah, I love that Tempest too.

Aahh, thanks for that David! I had a nagging feeling that something wasn’t right there, but wasn’t sure. Also I was sure that the aircraft had flown in, which it obviously hadn’t done then.

Hmm, now to find another Sea Fury photo then.

first photo shows kermit weeks’ static tempest mkII with original centauras and original 4 bladed prop.

I think they use a Skyraider prop for the R-3350 powered Sea Fury, but I’m not sure. The end result looks a bit different, but in a way at least it keeps the aircraft in the air where it belongs!

First photo is Sun ‘n Fun 2002, second one is an airshow in Belgium in ’92 I think.

Edit: The first photo isn’t a Sea Fury obviously, it’s Kermit Weeks’ Tempest II (with original prop)

As far as I know, they only Sea Fury flying with a Centaurus here in the States is Elsworth Getchell’s WH587. He has stated in the past that he has enough spares to keep her flying with the Centaurus for many years to come, having purchased two complete sets of sleeves from the Germans before the target tugs were retired and a sizeable batch of parts in the auction of German spares. VZ368(Dreadnought) and WH589(Furias) Fly with Pratt & Whitney R-4360’s, the rest of the flyers here in the States have Wright R-3350’s

Hi

Firstly to Dave in Kiwi land
Dave I understand your sense of loss at seeing the Sea Fury leave the country – Don’t worry it is well loved and cared for here in Brisbane. I am led to believe that another may arrive soon to console you – a proper one with Bristol etc. It is an awsome sight and sound in the air – we are lucky in Queensland to have two Sea Furys here – The Ex Kiwi one and the Zuccoli Collection one at Toowoomba which does not fly at present but is being kept airworthy and will again soon I believe – Photos below and if you like these I have a page of Australian Sea Fury / Fury photos on my Webshots account at

http://community.webshots.com/user/setter125

I emailed Steve a couple of times about his loverly Sea Fury and he stated that the reason he has to use the Yank engine and prop is the almost non existance of parts for the Pommie donk and prop in the US – I think he would prefer the Bristol but it is not possible. Luckily spares are reasonably under control here.

I expect to see the Ex Kiwi example flying this weekend at Cabooluture airshow near here. Photos on Monday.