'Teds' Hawker Tempest Cockpits

The ‘better’ cockpit is the one that has been ‘mislaid’ -the other is considerably poorer and when I last saw it consisted of cockpit framework and not much else. The rear fuselage is off the RAFM MK.II and was removed due to corrosion. It was replaced with the rear from Manadon.

Could I emphasize that the new private collector has the residue of Ted’s Tempest projects and not the ‘missing’ elements.

Mark

I suppose they would if it was actually stolen, perhaps it was taken by aliens just as believable as the other stories I have heard. I dont know Ted personally but I know the person who went with him to collect the cockpit and heard first hand the explanation offered for its dissapearance. As you say some would have re acted differently!

This reminds me of poor Norman and his Shackleton cockpit, i.e. stuff loaned out/last in the care of…then calamity.

Any updates on that saga?

Surely the person it was lent to should have reported it’s theft to the police and the owner? i think if i was Ted i would be leaning alot harder on the person it was lent to.
Very strange.

I understand the owner Ted is very keen to trace the where abouts of His cockpit which was “lost” by the person it was last lent to. Aparrently when Ted went to collect it, he was told it was stolen and then lost there seems to be some confusion about its actual fate. If anyone knows it where abouts they should call Ted or the police or both, either would be good.

So is this the same restorer that David Burke mentioned who had mislaid it or is it still mislaid by someone else?
Must be wonderful to have a big enough property or enough stuff to “mislay” something like that.

I was told by a then employee that an enthusiastic collector of classic cars mislaid one of his collection in the mid 80’s. They were all in running order but were kept at several different locations and one car appeared to have gone missing. I never did get to hear if they managed to find it again.

Nope. New private owner.

Mark

Does he have all the bits now or are some still mislaid LOL 🙂 Must check in garage ,I wish.

So is this the same restorer that David Burke mentioned who had mislaid it or is it still mislaid by someone else?
Must be wonderful to have a big enough property or enough stuff to “mislay” something like that.

Nope. New private owner.

Mark

The residue of ‘Ted’s Tempest collection’ are now in the custody of a private collector.

An exciting project for the long term.

I would stop there. 🙂

Mark

So is this the same restorer that David Burke mentioned who had mislaid it or is it still mislaid by someone else?
Must be wonderful to have a big enough property or enough stuff to “mislay” something like that.

The residue of ‘Ted’s Tempest collection’ are now in the custody of a private collector.

An exciting project for the long term.

I would stop there. 🙂

Mark

Yes they still exist -one is substancially better than the other. It was lent to a Hawker restorer but seems to have vanished since!The other cockpit including Indian rear fuselage was last in Norfolk.

Thanks for the info.

So it seems one cockpit was taken apart for the restoration of the RAF museums mk2 and the other has acquired the rear fuselage of the same mk 2 [I guess] because this was for sale a while ago with a tail unit.

Graham

I hope Ted is still around and in good health? He used to visit regularly in the 1980s.

He always reckoned his lorry driving job was a great way to scour the country for aeroplane bits – you could usually manage a deviation off the normal route to chase leads up and the view out of the cab meant you could spot things in farmyards etc that a car driver might miss. He claimed to have found loads of stuff that way, including several sets of Sea Fury undercarriage legs.

I saw the Tempest rear fuselage a few years ago. I was impressed by how simple it appeared to be to reconfigure the fin to a Typhoon shape by removing the fairing added for the Tempest.

Hmmm, how do you mislay a Tempest cockpit…..?

The better cockpit was last noted with a restorer – he seems to have mislaid it.

‘Both’ tempest cockits along with a rear fuselage and tail were sold a couple of years ago…they have since moved on again and I believe they are with a well known restorer. The cockpit with this project was stripped I believe for the RAF Museums MKII in exchange for the fuselage. The better of the cockpits has indeed disappeared after being used as patterns for a few projects. Anyone know where it is or last was then please let me know 🙂

Yes they still exist -one is substancially better than the other. It was lent to a Hawker restorer but seems to have vanished since!The other cockpit including Indian rear fuselage was last in Norfolk.