De Havilland Vampire

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The correct title of this article is de Havilland Vampire. The initial letter is shown capitalized due to technical restrictions.
DH.100 Vampire
WZ507, a Vampire T 11 trainer variant, operated by the Vampire Preservation Group at North Weald, Essex, UK.
Type Fighter aircraft
Manufacturer de Havilland
Maiden flight 20 September 1943
Retired 1955 (RAF)
Primary users Royal Air Force
Fleet Air Arm
Number built >4,300

The de Havilland DH.100 Vampire was the second jet-engined aircraft commissioned by the Royal Air Force during the Second World War (the first being the Gloster Meteor), although it did not see combat in that conflict. The Vampire served with front-line RAF squadrons until 1955. It also served with numerous other air forces worldwide (see Operators). Almost 4,400 Vampires were built, a quarter of them under licence.

Contents

The Vampire began as an experimental aircraft, unlike the Gloster Meteor which was always specified for production. Under specification E.6/41, design work on the DH-100 began at the de Havilland works at Hatfield in mid-1942, two years after the Meteor.

Originally named the "Spider Crab," the aircraft was entirely a de Havilland project, exploiting the company's extensive experience in using moulded plywood for aircraft construction, as used in the Mosquito bomber. It was the last time composite wood and metal construction was used in high performance military aircraft. It had conventional straight mid-wings and a single jet engine placed in an egg-shaped, aluminium-surfaced fuselage exhausting in a straight line. To reduce the losses caused by a long jetpipe the designers used the distinctive tail with twin booms, similar to that of the Lockheed P-38.

Geoffrey de Havilland Jr, the de Havilland chief test pilot and son of the company's president, test flew prototype LZ548/G on its maiden flight 20 September 1943 from Hatfield. The flight took place only six months following the Meteor's maiden flight. The first Vampire flight had been delayed due to the need to send the sole remaining flight engine to Lockheed to replace one destroyed in ground engine runs in the prototype XP-80. The production Vampire Mk I did not fly until April 1945 with most built by English Electric Aircraft due to the pressures on de Havilland's production facilities, busy with other types. Although eagerly taken into service by the RAF, it was still being developed at war's end, consequently the Vampire never saw combat in the Second World War. A total of 3,269 Vampires were built in the UK, and about 1,100 in other countries although there is some uncertainty about the numbers built in Italy. There were 15 versions, e.g. a twin seated night fighter, trainer and carrier-based aircraft.

It was used by some 31 air forces. Of the major Western powers, Germany and the US were the only ones not to use the aircraft type.

The Vampire was first powered by a Halford H1 (later renamed the "Goblin") producing 2,100 lbf (9.3 kN) of thrust, designed by Frank B Halford and built by de Havilland. The engine was a centrifugal-flow type, a design soon superseded post-war by the slimmer axial-flow units. Initially, the Goblin gave the aircraft a disappointingly limited range, a common problem with all the early jets. Later marks were distinguished by greatly increased fuel capacities. As designs improved the engine was often upgraded. Later Mk Is used the Goblin II; the F 3 onwards used the Goblin III. Certain marks were test-beds for the Rolls-Royce Nene but did not enter production. An unusual characteristic of the low positioning of the engine meant that a Vampire could not remain on idle for longer than a certain time because it would melt the tarmac on which it stood.

In postwar service, the RAF employed the Gloster Meteor as an interceptor and the Vampire as a ground-attack fighter-bomber (although their roles probably should have been reversed[1]). The first prototype of the "Vampire Fighter-Bomber Mk 5 (FB 5)," modified from a Vampire F 3, carried out its initial flight on 23 June 1948. The FB 5 retained the Goblin 2 engine of the F 3, but featured armor protection around engine systems, wings clipped back by 30 centimeters (1 foot), and longer-stroke main gear to handle greater takeoff weights and provide clearance for stores/weapons load (an external tank or 225 kilogram (500 pound) bomb outboard on each wing, and eight "3 inch" rocket projectiles ("RPs") stacked in pairs on four attachments inboard of the booms). Although an ejection seat was considered, it was not fitted.

At its peak, 19 RAF squadrons flew the FB 5 in Europe, the Middle East and the Far East. The FB 5 undertook attack missions during the successful British campaign to suppress the insurgency in Malaya in the late 1940s and early 1950s. The RAF eventually relegated the Vampire to advanced training roles in the mid-1950s and the type was generally out of RAF service by the end of the decade.

The Mk 5 was navalised as the Sea Vampire, the first Royal Navy jet aircraft. The navy had been very impressed with the aircraft since 3 December 1945, when a Vampire carried out the flying trials on the carrier HMS Ocean. The RAF's Mk 5 was altered to extend the aircraft's role from a fighter to a ground-attack aircraft, the wings being clipped, strengthened and fitted with hard-points for bombs or rockets. The Mk 5 (FB 5) fighter-bomber became the most numerous variant with 473 aircraft produced.

Two-seat Vampire trainer.
Two-seat Vampire trainer.

The final Vampire was the T 11 trainer. First flown in 1950, over 600 were produced in both air force and naval models. The trainer remained in service with the RAF until 1966.

The Vampire was an exceptionally versatile aircraft, setting many aviation firsts and records, being the first RAF fighter with a top speed exceeding 500 mph. Piloted by Captain Eric "Winkle" Brown, a Sea Vampire was the first jet to take off from and land on an aircraft carrier and in 1948, John Cunningham set a new world altitude record of 59,446 ft (18,119 m). On 14 July 1948, Vampire F 3s of No. 54 Squadron RAF became the first jet aircraft to fly across the Atlantic Ocean. They went via Stornoway, Iceland and Labrador to Montreal on the first leg of a goodwill tour of Canada and the US where they gave several formation aerobatic displays. (The USAF, which had assigned a squadron of P-80 Shooting Stars of the 56th Fighter Group to reinforce U.S. forces in Germany during the Berlin blockade, delayed the trans-Atlantic flight, known as Fox Able, so as not to steal the Vampires' thunder.)[citation needed]

Several Vampires are still airworthy, and many have been preserved. Some examples are on display at Temora Aviation Museumat Temora, New South Wales, Australia, the Canada Aviation Museum, the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum, the Indian Air Force Museum, Palam, New Delhi, Mosquito Aircraft Museum in Hertfordshire, the Museum of Transport and Technology in Auckland and the Royal New Zealand Air Force Museum.

One example, a two-seater, is hangared at Tatui, São Paulo, Brazil, after establishing the longest travel ever for a Vampire. The last airworthy Vampire T 11 in the world is operated by the Vampire Preservation Group from North Weald in Essex, UK. Several ex-Swiss and ex-Australian Vampires operate as collectors' aircraft in the US. One ex-Australian two-seat Mk 35W Vampire, S/N A79-617 was restored by Red Star Aviation of Hackettstown,, New Jersey and then repatriated to Australia where it is displayed in airshows regularly, thus undoubtably setting the record for most miles traveled by a civil Vampire. Several other US-based Vampires are abandoned and in disrepair, as is an ex-airworthy example presently stored at Sullivan County Airport, in New York State.

  • DH 100 : Three prototypes.
  • Vampire Mk I : Single-seat fighter version for the RAF, 244 production aircraft being built.
  • Vampire Mk II : Three prototypes, with Rolls-Royce Nene turbojet engine. One built and two conversions.
  • Vampire F 3 : Single-seat fighter for the RAF. Two prototypes were converted from the Mk 1 and 202 production aircraft were built.
  • Vampire Mk IV : Nene engined project, not built.
  • Vampire FB 5 : Single-seat fighter-bomber version. Powered by the Goblin 2 turbojet, 930 being built for the RAF and 88 for export.
  • Vampire FB 6 : Single-seat fighter-bomber built in Switzerland for the Swiss Air Force. Powered by a Goblin 3 turbojet, 178 being built.
  • Vampire Mk 8: Ghost engined, one conversion from Mk 1.
  • Vampire FB 9 : Tropicalised fighter-bomber . Powered by Goblin 3 turbojet, 326 being built.
  • Vampire Mk 10 : Goblin powered two-seater prototype, two built.
  • Vampire NF 10 : Two-seat night fighter version for the RAF, 95 built including 29 as the NF54.
  • Sea Vampire Mk10 : Prototype for deck trials. One conversion.
  • Vampire Mk 11 or DH 115 Vampire Trainer : Private venture, two-seat jet trainer prototype.
  • Vampire T 11 : Two-seat training version for the RAF. Powered by a Goblin 35 turbojet engine, 731 were built.
  • Sea Vampire F 20 : Naval version of the FB 5, 18 were built.
  • Sea Vampire Mk 21 : Three aircraft converted for trials.
  • Sea Vampire T 22 : Two-seat training version for the Royal Navy, 73 were built.
  • Vampire FB 25 : FB 5 variants, 25 exported to New Zealand
  • Vampire F 30 : Single-seat fighter-bomber version for the RAAF. Powered by Roll-Royce Nene turbojet, 80 built in Australia.
  • Vampire FB 31 - Nene engined, 29 built in Australia.
  • Vampire F 32 - One Australian conversion with air conditioning.
  • Vampire T 33 : Two-seat training version. Powered by the Goblin turbojet, 36 were built in Australia.
  • Vampire T 34 : Two-seat training version of the Royal Australian Navy, five were built in Australia.
  • Vampire T 34A : Vampire T 34s fitted with ejector seats.
  • Vampire T 35 : Modified two-seat training version, 68 built in Australia.
  • Vampire T 35A - T33 conversions to T35 configuration.
  • Vampire FB 50 - exported to Sweden as the J 28B, 310 built, 12 of which were eventually rebuilt to T 55 standard.
  • Vampire FB 51 - export prototype (one conversion) to France.
  • Vampire FB 52 - Export version of Mk 6, 101 built.
  • Vampire FB 52A : Single-seat fighter-bomber for the Italian Air Force, 80 built in Italy.
  • Vampire FB 53 : Single-seat fighter-bomber for the Armee de l'Air, 250 built in France, as the Sud-Est SE 535 Mistral.
  • Vampire NF 54 : Export version of Vampire NF 10 for the Italian Air Force, 29 being built.
  • Vampire T 55 : Export version of the DH 115 trainer, 216 built and six converted from the T 11.
de Havilland Vampire built under license for the Swiss Air Force in 1969 as an FB-6 painted as a F 3 in RCAF service (Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum).
de Havilland Vampire built under license for the Swiss Air Force in 1969 as an FB-6 painted as a F 3 in RCAF service (Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum).

An F Mk 1 version began operating on an evaluation basis in Canada at the Winter Experimental Establishment in Edmonton in 1946. The F 3 was chosen as one of two types of operational fighters for the Royal Canadian Air Force and was first flown in Canada on 17 January 1948 where it went into service as a training aircraft at Central Flying School at RCAF Station Trenton. With 86 in total, the F 3 was the first jet fighter to enter RCAF service in any significant numbers. It served to introduce fighter pilots not only to jet flying, but also to cockpit pressurization and the tricycle landing gear. The "Vamp" was a popular aircraft, easy to fly and considered a bit of a "hot rod." It served in both operational and air reserve units until retirement in the late 1950s.

The Finnish Air Force received six FB 52 Vampires in 1953. The model was nicknamed "Vamppi" in Finnish service. An additional nine twin-seat T 55s were purchased in 1955. The aircraft were initially assigned to 2nd Wing at Pori, but were transferred to 1st Wing at Tikkakoski at the end of the 1950s. The last Finnish Vampire was decommissioned in 1965.

The Swedish Air Force purchased its first batch of 70 FB 1 Vampires in 1946, looking for a jet to replace the P-51D Mustangs and the outdated J 22s of its fighter force. The aircraft was designated J 28A and was assigned to the F13 air wing at Norrköping. It provided such good service that it was selected as the backbone of the fighter force. A total of 310 of the more modern FB 50, designated J 28B, were purchased in 1949. The last one was delivered in 1952, after which all piston-engined fighters were decommissioned. In addition, a total of 57 two-seater DH 115 Vampire called J 28C were used for training.

The Swedish Vampire fighters were retired in 1956 and replaced with J 29 (SAAB Tunnan) and J 34 (Hawker Hunter). The trainers remained in service well into the 1960s. The last Vampire was retired in 1968. (All Vampire warbirds being flown in Sweden today originate from the Swiss Air Force.)

General characteristics

  • Crew: 1
  • Length: 30 ft 9 in (9.37 m)
  • Wingspan: 38 ft 0 in (11.6 m)
  • Height: 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
  • Wing area: 262 ft² (24.3 m²)
  • Empty weight: 7,270 lb (3,300 kg)
  • Max takeoff weight: 12,385 lb (5,618 kg)
  • Powerplant: 1× de Havilland Goblin 2 turbojet, 1,420 lbf (6.3 kN)

Performance

Armament

  • Guns: 4× 20 mm (0.787 in) Hispano Mk.V cannon
  • Rockets: 8× 3 in (76 mm) rockets or
  • Bombs: 2× 1,000 lb (455 kg) bombs

    1. ^ Watkins 1996, p. 58. Quote: "The Vampire had been conceived during the war as a high-altitude fighter..."
    • Bain, Gordon. De Havilland: A Pictorial Tribute. London: AirLife Publishing Ltd., 1992. ISBN 1-85648-243-X.
    • de Havilland Vampire and Sea Vampire (1946 - 1969). [1] Access date; 27 December 2006.
    • Watkins, David. de Havilland Vampire: The Complete History. Thrupp, Stroud, Great Britain: Budding Books, 1996. ISBN 1-84015-023-8.

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