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Re: Poona Tempest Mystery!

Posted by PeterA on Sun Nov 09, 2003 05:55:18 PM

In reply top Poona Tempest Mystery! posted by Paul McMillan on Sun Nov 09, 2003 01:39:39 PM

The Indian MOD tender documents dated January 1976 advise that 11 Tempest Aircraft are avaiable all Cat 'E'. They may all have been a Poona but in the back of my mind I associate these aircraft with Halwarra.

Eleven Tempests does sound like the ones Doug Arnold retrieved plus the ones he left behind.

Also 56 Harvards available both serviceable and un-seviceable!!

: Thanks to Dave McDonald I obtained a copy of the Poona Tem
: pest's article in January 1975 issue of Aeroplane Monthly
:
: This is quite interesting as it includes photos and inform
: ation from a N Simms who took the pictures in Poona in Feb
: ruary 1969
:
: Now, we know that Doug Arnold recovered a bunch of Tempest
: aircraft circa 1979 from Poona and there have been sugges
: tions that 'up to 6' others were buried on site
: to increase rarity and prevent others recovering them.
:
: I do not know if these rumours are true, however the AM ar
: ticle lists a bunch of aircraft (7) that were there in 196
: 9 but were not recovered.... I list these below:
:
: As an aside, both MW741 and MW758 are listed in the AM art
: icle as well and only 1 of these subsequently known about
: for sure..
:
:
: The '7 Missing Tempests'
:
: RAF IAF RAF Notes
: Serial Serial Code
:
: PR555 HA407 XL-Y
: PR659 - XC-L
: PR756 - EG-H
: PR779 HA356 5R-D
: PR834 HA603 XL-X Jagan has HA603 as MW793, Air Britain
: has both PR834 and MW793 as HA603!!
: PR867 HA415 XL-?
: PR901 HA465 XC-C
:
: 'In-Situ Aircraft ?'
: IAF
: Code
: MW741 HA622 Q RAF code unknown in AM Article
: Reported: Open storage, airfield decoy, Poona AB, In
: dia
:
: MW848 HA623 IAF Museum, Pallan AB, New Dehli.
:
:
: The 8 Recovered Aircraft
:
: Info from: http://user.tninet.se/~ytm843e/today.htm
:
: quote "may be up to 14 Tempest II's still stored in India"
:
:
:
:
: MW758 HA580 M RAF code unknown in AM Article
: Last reported stored in Sussex, UK
: MW376 HA564 G-BSHW - Last reported stored in France
:
: MW401 HA604 G-PEST - Tempest Two Ltd/Stored
: MW404 HA557 Last reported stored in Sussex, UK
: MW758 HA580 Last reported stored in Sussex, UK
: MW763 HA586 G-TEMT - Tempest Two Ltd/Restoration to f
: ly. Air Britain has HA554
: MW810 HA591 Nelson Ezell, TX USA/Stored
: PR536 HA457 Notes: RAF Museum, Hendon
:
: Can anybody add anything else?
:
:

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