The new design featured automobile-like side-opening doors for entry, and used a large 40 ft (12 m) wing that was much thicker in cross-section than those on aircraft like the Supermarine Spitfire.

The X-24 cylinder configuration of the Vulture required two sets of ejector exhaust stacks on each side of the cowling,[5] and that the engine was mounted further forward than the Sabre in order to clear the front wing spar.

It featured the chin radiator, additional window panels in the fairing behind the cockpit, and the 12 .303 in machine guns were replaced by four 20 mm Hispano cannon.

The Vulture was effectively cancelled by Rolls-Royce in July 1941, partly due to the problems experienced in its use on the Avro Manchester, but mostly to free up resources for Merlin development and production.

However, the Vulture engine installation in the Tornado was relatively trouble free[5] and the aircraft itself had fewer problems in flight than its Sabre-engined counterpart.

This Tornado was built from two incomplete production airframes (R7937 and R7938), was a testbed for a number of Centaurus engine/propeller combinations and was the progenitor of the Hawker Tempest II.

Data from The Typhoon and Tempest Story,[5] Hawker Aircraft Since 1920 [7]General characteristics Performance Armament Avionics TR 9 VHF R/T fitted (P5224)