The early Cold War saw a massive leap forward in aviation technology, and this resulted in revolutionary aircraft including the Soviet Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 fighter jet and United States’ Republic F-84 Thunderjet. Each of those fighter jets saw service in the Korean War and proved to be important stepping stones to even more advanced aircraft, but there was a less remembered contemporary: Great Britain’s de Havilland Vampire.

Developed during World War II to take advantage of jet propulsion, the Vampire proved to be a unique-looking aircraft featuring a twin-boom design with an “egg-shaped” wood/aluminum fuselage. While it only entered production after the war ended, the Vampire proved to be effective and was soon chosen to replace the wartime piston-engine fighter aircraft.

During its early years of service, the Vampire achieved several notable milestones including being the first jet aircraft to cross the Atlantic Ocean and the first Royal Air Force (RAF) aircraft to be able to exceed five hundred miles per hour; while the Royal Navy’s Sea Vampire was the first jet to make a carrier landing. An experimental version of the Vampire was built with an extended wingspan and powered by a de Havilland Ghost engine, and it set a world altitude record of 59,446 feet in March 1948.

The Vampire in Service

The DH Vampire was powered by a de Havilland Goblin 3 centrifugal-flow turbojet engine, which provided 3,350-pound force foot (14.9 kilonewtons) thrust. The aircraft had a maximum speed of 548 miles per hour and a range of 1,220 miles and a service ceiling of 42,800 feet. It was armed with four 20-millimeter Hispano Mk. V cannons, eight three-inch sixty-pound rockets and could carry two 500-pound bombs or two drop-tanks.

Widely used by the RAF and Royal Navy for more than two decades, it saw use in the Suez Crisis and the Malayan Emergency; while it was also used by the Rhodesian Air Force (the final operators of the Vampire) in the Rhodesian Bush War.

A total of 3,268 Vampires were produced in the UK between 1945 and 1960, and it remained in service with the RAF until 1966 when it was replaced by the Hawker Hunter and Gloster Javelin. Nearly six hundred additional aircraft were built under license by six countries and the Vampire flew in the service of twenty-six nations.

There were numerous variants built, including the Vampire FB.Mk 9 version, which was “tropicalized” to address the rigors of operations in the Middle East and other warm-weather climates. Unique for the era, this variant featured an air conditioner in the cockpit. Another variant was the NF.Mk 10, a side-by-side two-seat nightfighter that was employed by both France the later the Indian Army.

Today there are more than eighty surviving Vampires, yet few are still airworthy. Among those in museum collections is one that was built in 1947 and is believed to be the world’s oldest flying jet in the world today. It was formerly flown by the Royal Canadian Air Force and is owned by the Wings of Flight Air Museum in Batavia, New York. It was damaged during an emergency landing at Rochester International Airport in April 2009. It had been previously been restored by former owner/actor John Travolta.

Peter Suciu is a Michigan-based writer who has contributed to more than four dozen magazines, newspapers and websites. He regularly writes about military small arms, and is the author of several books on military headgear including A Gallery of Military Headdress, which is available on Amazon.com.

Image: Wikimedia Commons