KITS 11/2021

A152, No. 5 Squadron, Royal Pakistan Air Force, 1948

Pakistan obtained their Mk.IIs following partition of Pakistan and India and establishment of the RPAF. Pakistan took over 35

Tempests, all inherited from RAF. These aircraft formed Nos. 1 and 5 Squadrons RPAF established on August 15, 1947, with aircraft arriving a month later; No. 1 Sqn was later renumbered No.9. All Mk.IIs were overhauled at RPAF Drigh Road in Karachi, as

they were received in bad condition. In the process they got also new serials A100-A127 during 1948 and the same year Hawker

delivered batch of Mk.IIs already in Desert Scheme colors (A128-A151). The A152 was one of four or five aircraft which were returned to the service in 1949 (the original aircraft inherited from India) using new and also cannibalized parts from other „grounded“ aircraft. It seems logical and probable the aircraft obtained the already used Desert Scheme, but not sure. The Day Fighter

Scheme of RAF is also possible according to some sources. What´s sure are the white identification chevrons on fuselage and

wings used for quick identification of RPAF´s Tempests in the air and bottom cockades without the yellow outline contrary to the

standard markings. It is up to the modeler to choose which camouflage colors prefers, as the sources are rather scanty. We tend

to believe it was the Desert Scheme.

PR666, S/Ldr T. H. Meyer, No. 30 Sqn, Santa Cruz, Bombay, India, 1946

S/Ldr T. H. Meyer used several aircraft named Joe Soap, which is an imaginary name for a gullible person who can be fooled or

misled easily. Joe Soap I and II were Mohawks flown by Meyer during the hostilities and Joe Soap III was a Spitfire; he marked

his Tempest Mk.II as Joe Soap IV (not III as stated elsewhere) and at some point, the aircraft got the R letter in the code modified

to the B, creating the “BS” code, which is abbreviation for “Bull Shit”. This might well be a reaction to the situation in the RAF at

the time, as the slow rate of demobilization caused discontent among the personnel, or it could have been his favorite expletive.

Some illustrations show the part of inscription “Joe Soap” at the bottom of the letter R, but a close look at the photo shows it is

in fact an unbroken bar. It is not known whether the inscription Joe Soap IV was repeated on the starboard side.

HA598, No. 7 Sqn, Royal Indian Air Force, 1947

Some 124 Tempests Mk.II were transferred to the RIAF from the RAF squadrons departing India. First to use them was No. 3 Sqn

at Kolar in September 1946 with Nos. 10 and 4 Sqn following. In mid-1947 Nos. 7 and 8 Sqn added to the India Tempest strength.

Two other Squadrons of RIAF converted to Tempests later in 1947, the No. 1 and No. 9, but these were almost immediately transferred to Pakistan, becoming No. 5 and No. 9 RPAF squadrons. India brought another 89 Tempests from Hawker, all of them full

refurbished and, if necessary, modified to full tropical standard. The latter was the case of for MW809 which became HA598; this

makes it an exception from the PR series in this kit but puts it on par with these thanks to the upgrade technically. No. 7 Sqn was

the first unit to exchange Tempests for De Havilland Vampire jets in 1949 ; their last Tempests departed in December 1949.

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INFO Eduard - November 2021