REQ: Info on Tempest GR7

"Harry Andreas" wrote in message
...
In article , "Paul J. Adam"
wrote:

In message , JetA1
writes
Hi All,

I am reading a book written by John Nichol, name of the book is
"Exclusion Zone". They fly aircraft called Tempest GR7.

I have now been googling around for a while, but simply did not
find any data on what sort of aircraft this "Tempest GR7" is. Does
it even exist? Could the novelist be referring to Harrier GR7?

It's a fictional aircraft created for the book, loosely based on the
Tornado at a guess. Back in WW2 I seem to recall the Tornado and Tempest
competed for the same staff requirement, and the Tempest won so the name
languished a little: Nichol may have used a historical in-joke to use
his Tornado experience without being sued for libel.

I would be happy if someone could point me to correct source of
information or just tell me that the whole Tempest GR7 is bollox.

It's an invented aircraft, though more like David Mace's Soviet stealth
fighter (from "Shadowhunters") than outrageously fictional craft like
the Firefox: at a guess, meant to be "sort of but not quite" a real
aircraft rather than a complete fabrication.

In the early 90's there were some proposals to fit out the Tornado
with heavy duty weasel gear for sale to USAF.

Many professionals still can't quite believe that they went with
a single engine, single operator, limited range aircraft
for the mission.

The Tornado Mid Life Update was for a lot of things that ultimately the
government couldn't afford. Unfortunately the first gulf war came and
showed the RAF they could do with most of the upgrade, but they couldn't
find the money..........