The de Havilland Vampire was a British jet fighter commissioned by the Royal Air Force during the Second World Flying in NZ
The de Havilland Vampire was a British jet fighter commissioned by the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. Following the Gloster Meteor, it was the second jet fighter to enter service with the RAF. Although it arrived too late to see combat during the war, the Vampire served with front line RAF squadrons until 1953 and continued in use as a trainer until 1966, although generally the RAF 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 Vampire also served with many air forces worldwide, setting aviation firsts and records. Almost 3,300 Vampires were built, a quarter of them under licence in other countries. The Vampire design was also developed into the de Havilland Venom fighter-bomber as well as naval Sea Vampire variants. The Vampire was considered to be a largely experimental design due to its unorthodox arrangement and the use of a single engine, unlike the Gloster Meteor which was already specified for production. The low power output of early British jet engines meant that only twin-engine aircraft designs were considered practical; but as more powerful engines were developed, particularly Frank Halford's (later known as the Goblin), a single-engined jet fighter became more viable. De Havilland were approached to produce an airframe for the , and their first design, the , was an all-metal, twin-boom, tricycle undercarriage aircraft armed with four cannon. The use of a twin boom kept the jet pipe short which avoided the power loss of a long pipe that would have been needed in a conventional fuselage. The was modified to a mixed wood and metal construction in light of Ministry of Aircraft Production recommendations, and the design was renumbered to by November 1941. On 8 June 1946, the Vampire was introduced to the British public when Fighter Command's 247 Squadron was given the honour of leading the victory flypast over London
Size: 3799px × 2517px
Location: Hood Aerodrome, Masterton, New Zealand
Photo credit: © Avpics / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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