De Havilland DH 115 Vampire

In 1953, the RAF introduced two new trainers into service, the piston-engined Percival Provost T.1, which replaced the Prentice, and the jet-powered DH Vampire T.11 which replaced the Harvard and the Meteor T.7 with the Advanced Flying Schools. The DH. 115 Vampire T.11 was based upon the earlier two-seat DH.113 Vampire night fighter variants, but deleted the radar and introduced dual controls. All the control surfaces are cable-operated through a series of pulleys, only the flaps, airbrakes and undercarriage are hydraulic—even the wheel brakes are pneumatic. One of Vampire’s features is its composite wood and metal con-struction. Between the first bulkhead and the fourth (which is just forward of the engine) the fuselage is wood and fabric. The rest of the fuselage, as well as the wings, booms and tail, is flush-riveted aluminium. The Goblin engine has a total oil loss de-sign, which means that there is no oil scavenger pump, oil filter, cooler and so on. The engine is a centrifugal-flow turbojet, about 3,000 lbs of thrust.

Vampire production terminated with the Vampire T.Mk.11 and Vampire T.Mk.22 two-seat trainers for the RAF and Fleet Air Arm, 804 being completed between 1951 and 1958; this mark also achieved considerable export success.

The T.55 being the export version of the RAF’s T.11. Some operated by Zimbabwe.

In 1964, DH-115 Vampire T35 A79-617 was fitted with Sidewinder missile guidance equipment.

Gallery

DH-115 Vampire T35
Engine: De Havilland Goblin 35 Centrifugal flow turbojet, 3500lb (1588kg)
Fuel: Aviation Turbine Fuel (Jet Fuel)
Centre Tank Capacity: 96 ImpGal / 436 Lt / 115 USG
Wing Tank Capacity (2): 52 ImpGal / 236 Lt / 62 USG
Leading Edge Tank Capacity (2): 65 ImpGal / 296 Lt / 78 USG
Drop Tank Capacity: 100 Impl Gal / 454 Lt / 120 USGs
Wingspan: 38 ft 0 in / 11.58 m
Length: 34 ft 9 in / 9.37 m
Wing Area: 262 sq. ft  / 24.34 sq. m
Height: 6 ft 2 in /   1.88 m
Empty weight: 7,253 lb / 3,290 kg
Max Takeoff weight: 12,360 lb / 5,606 kg
Armament: two or four 20mm Hispano Cannons, two 500 or 1,000lb (227 or 454 kg) bombs or eight 60lb (27kg) rocket projectiles.
Maximum Speed: 461 kt / 531 mph / 855 km/h
Cruise Speed: 275 kt / 316 mph / 509 km/h

De Havilland DH 115 Vampire T.Mk 55
Engine: De Havilland Goblin 35b, 14911 N
Length : 34.416 ft / 10.49 m
Height : 6.594 ft / 2.01 m
Wingspan : 37.992 ft / 11.58 m
Wing area : 271.468 sq.ft / 25.22 sq.m
Max take off weight : 13613.7 lb / 6174.0 kg
Weight empty : 7902.7 lb / 3584.0 kg
Max. weight carried : 5711.0 lb / 2590.0 kg
Max. speed : 454 kts / 840 km/h
Initial climb rate : 3346.46 ft/min / 17.0 m/s
Service ceiling : 32808 ft / 10000 m
Wing loading: 50.23 lb/sq.ft / 245.0 kg/sq.m
Range : 324 nm / 600 km
Endurance: 1 h
Crew: 2
Armament: 2x MK20mm Hispano 404; 2 Bomb 227kg