History

This exact Vampire left the production plant in 1956 as a Vampire T.11 and was taken on Strength with the Schweizer Luftwaffe (Swiss Air Force) where it received a serial number U-1008. She was later converted to T.55 Trainer and served with the Swiss Air Force as U-1208 up until her retirement in 1990. In 1991 she was handed over to the Fliegermuseum (Swiss Flying Museum) at the Altenrhein Airport where she received a civilian registration HB-RVF.

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The Aircraft

De Havilland Vampire T.55

The de Havilland Vampire is a British jet fighter that was developed and manufactured by the de Havilland Aircraft Company. It was the second jet fighter to be operated by the RAF, after the Gloster Meteor, and the first to be powered by a single jet engine.

Development of the Vampire as an experimental aircraft began in 1941 during the Second World War, to exploit the revolutionary innovation of jet propulsion. From the company's design studies, it was decided to use a single-engine, twin-boom aircraft, powered by the Halford H.1 turbojet (later produced as the "Goblin"). Aside from its propulsion system and twin-boom configuration, it was a relatively conventional aircraft. In May 1944 it was decided to produce the aircraft as an interceptor for the Royal Air Force (RAF). In 1946 the Vampire entered operational service with the RAF, only months after the war had ended.

The Vampire quickly proved to be effective and was adopted as a replacement for wartime piston-engined fighter aircraft. During its early service, it accomplished several aviation firsts and achieved various records, such as being the first jet aircraft to cross the Atlantic Ocean. The Vampire remained in front-line RAF service until 1953 when it was progressively reassigned to various secondary roles, such as ground attack and pilot training, for which specialist variants were produced. The RAF retired the Vampire in 1966 when its final role of the advanced trainer was filled by the Folland Gnat. The Royal Navy had also adapted the type as the Sea Vampire, a navalised variant suitable for operations from aircraft carriers. It was the service's first jet fighter.

The Vampire was exported to a wide variety of nations and was operated worldwide in numerous theatres and climates. Several countries deployed the type in combat during conflicts, including the Suez Crisis, the Malayan Emergency, and the Rhodesian Bush War. By the end of production, almost 3,300 Vampires had been manufactured, a quarter of these having been manufactured under licence in several other countries. In addition, de Havilland pursued the further development of the type; major derivatives produced include the DH.115, a dedicated dual-seat trainer, and the more advanced DH.112 Venom, a refined variant oriented towards conducting ground attack and night fighter operations.

The de Havilland Vampire was a jet-powered twin-boom aircraft, typically employed in the fighter and fighter bomber roles. Aviation author Francis K Mason referred to it as being "the last unsophisticated single-engine front line aircraft to serve with Britain's Fighter Command"; the Vampire was a relatively straightforward aircraft, employing only manually operated flight controls, no radar, a simple airframe, and, aside from the propulsion system, made use of mostly conventional practices and technologies. The distinctive twin-boom tail configuration of the Vampire was one of the only non-traditional airframe features when compared to its contemporaries.

In comparison to later aircraft, the Vampire had a relatively disorganised cockpit that in some aspects lacked ergonomic measures; such as the fuel gauges being difficult for the pilot to observe without pulling the control column back. A few controls, such as the low-pressure fuel cock, were known for being difficult to move or were otherwise obstructed by other controls. The pilot was provided with a fairly favourable external view, in part aided by the relatively small size of the Vampire.

The Vampire was first powered by a single Halford H1 (produced as the de Havilland Goblin) turbojet engine, initially capable of producing 2,100 lbf (9.3 kN) of thrust, designed by Frank Halford and manufactured by de Havilland Engine Company. This engine was a centrifugal-flow type, a configuration superseded after 1949 by the slimmer axial-flow units. In 1947, Wing Commander Maurice Smith, assistant editor of Flight magazine, stated upon piloting his first jet-powered aircraft, a Vampire Mk III: "Piloting a jet aircraft has confirmed one opinion I had formed after flying as a passenger in the Lancastrian jet testbeds, that few, if any, having flown in a jet-propelled transport, will wish to revert to the noise, vibration and attendant fatigue of an airscrew-propelled piston-engined aircraft".

Initially, the relatively high fuel consumption of the Goblin engine had limited the range of early models of the Vampire; this had been a common problem with all early jet aircraft. As a result, later marks featured considerably increased internal fuel capacity. The H.1 Goblin engine, conceived in 1941, remained unchanged in basic form for 13 years; Flight said "The Goblin...can fairly claim to be the world's most reliable turbojet". Over successive models, it gained increased turbine temperature and thrust. Later-built Vampire Mk Is were powered by the Goblin II; the F.3 onwards used the improved Goblin III; by the mid-1950s, the Goblin Mk. 35 export engine, capable of 3,500 lbf, had become available as well.

Certain marks of the Vampire were also operated as flying test-beds for the Rolls-Royce Nene engine, leading to the FB30 and 31 variants that were built in, and operated by, Australia. Due to the low positioning of the engine, a Vampire could not remain on idle for long as the heat from the jet exhaust would melt the tarmac behind the aircraft. If the engine did stall in flight, there was no means to re-light the engine, meaning that a forced landing would be necessary.

According to Mason, the controls of the Vampire were considered to be relatively light and sensitive, employing an effective elevator arrangement that enabled generous acceleration from relatively little control inputs along with highly balanced ailerons that could achieve high rates of the roll. In comparison to the elevator and ailerons, the rudder required more vigorous actuation in order to achieve a meaningful effect. Pilots converting from piston-engined types would find themselves having to adapt to the slower acceleration of turbojet engines and the corresponding need to moderate rapid throttle movements to avoid instigating a compressor stall.

The Vampire had a relatively good power/weight ratio and was reputedly quite manoeuvrable within the 400–500 mph (640–800 km/h) range. Heavy use of the rudder was required at slower speeds, during which pilots had to be cautious during shallow turns to avoid stalls; this would be typically embarrassing rather than dangerous due to the relative ease of recovery, which was principally achieved via positive elevator application. At speeds in excess of Mach 0.71, increasing levels of buffeting were encountered.

The Vampire was compatible with a wide range of aerobatic manoeuvres, Mason comparing its capabilities in this respect to purpose-built sporting aircraft. It has been claimed that the type was the last British jet-powered fighter capable of accurately precipitating conditions such as hammer stalls, stall turns, and wingovers.

Preparing the Vampire for take-off required pilots to perform only six 'vital actions': setting the trim to neutral, opening the high and low-pressure fuel cocks, activating the booster pump, setting the flaps, and retracting the air brakes. If laden with external fuel tanks or bombs, pilots would have to retract the undercarriage quite quickly upon leaving the ground, else increasing airflow as the aircraft picked up speed would prevent the undercarriage doors from closing. The landing procedure was similarly free of complexity: disengaging the wheel brakes, lowering the undercarriage, setting the flaps to fully down, and activating the air brakes. Typically, power-on landings were conducted due to the slow response of the engine to throttle changes, and wheel brakes had to be applied carefully to avoid locking the wheels because there was no anti-lock braking system on the fighters. Training variants had the Dunlop Maxaret anti-skid system fitted.

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