It's a Tempest Mk.V Series II , S/N NV696, on a test flight from the Hawker factory Langley, near Slough, on 25th November, 1944. This aircraft went into service with No.222 Sqd the following month.
The aircraft is piloted by William "Bill" Humble, as stated by Yardstick already.
As a Hawker test pilot Bill Humble usually didn't wear a helmet, instead he's been wearing a spotted cravat
There are plenty of other photo shots from this flight available on the internet, both black/white and coloured (some of them colorized), since this flight was chosen to take some promo shots as Yardstick mentioned correctly.
Best regards - Mike
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Topic: today's SAS banner picture (Read 218364 times)
