The De Havilland D.H. 100 Vampire fighter jet was developed
during the Second World War and it became the second jet fighter
aircraft in service with the British Royal Air Force (RAF). The
prototype was built to be powerd by a Halford-designed de Havilland H-1
Goblin I straight-flow-combustion turbine engine and flew first in 1943.
The front fuselage was made of plywood and balsawood, with the remainder
being made of metal. It is a single seat aircraft with a pressure
cabin. The armament consisted of four 20-mm connons located in the
front fuselage and its maximum speed was 813 km/h. The Mk 1, built by
English Electric (EEC) had a modified engine with more power (Goblin II)
and 174 were built for the RAF. It was also used by Sweden (70, delivery
in 1946), Switzerland (4 on trial), France (30 ex-RAF), Dominica (25
bought from Sweden in 1952) and by the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF, 1
unit). The aircrafdt can be used in both tropical and temperate climates
Several versions were produced and this web page provides information on
the Vampire F Mark 3 and its cockpit lay-out as given in the Pilot's
notes for this version.
The Mk 3 was similar to the Mk 1, but had a larger fuel capacity
as it was fitted to carry 100 imp. gallon drop tanks and had a modified
tail unit with lower tail plane, rounded rudders and and tailplan and
fin acorn fairings. The RAF bought 117, the RCAF bought 85, of which 15
were later sold to Mexico in 1961.
The images below show the cockpit layout as shown in the Pilot's
Notes for the Vampire F.3 (Air Ministry, 1949 with updates until 1955.
Pilot's Notes for Vampire F.3 A.P. 4099C-P.N., second edition, 39 pages
+ illustrations). Higher resolution images can be viewed by clicking on
the images.
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Below are images of one of the surviving Vampire Mk 3 aircrafts
and its cockpit, This Vampire was from the Canadian RCAF and then
transferred to the USA, where John Travolta owned it for some time. It
is now being restored in a project involving Rick Arbour and friends.
Rick was kind enough to supply me with some photographs of their Vampire
for display on this page.
Images of the cockpit are shown below. Several of the original
instruments have been replaced by modern versions, including the HSI,
course indicator, ADF and DME equipment, and a transponder was
installed. The images below show a good overview of the cockpit layout
and appear all courtesy of Rick Arbour.
 Port side utility panel |
 Centre panel |
 Starboard utility panel |
 Throttle quadrant and gear handles |
 Starboard control boxes and navigation equipment |
|
 Rear part of the Vampire cockpit, port side |
 Rear part of the Vampire cockpit, starboard side |
IMPORTANT REQUEST: The
restoration project in which Rick is involved has the 4099C Volume I
documents for this aircraft but is still looking for the remaining 4099C
volumes, as well as any maintenance manuals. The group does have the
maintenance manuals for the vampire MK 1, but these may differ from the
Mk 3. Please contact me at the e-mail address below if you can help this
project with documentation about the Vampire F Mk 3. It will be very
much appreciated and it contributes to keeping these beautiful machines
flying...
The images below show a second DH100 Vampire F.3 restoration
project in Mexico. This Vampire misses part of the fuselage but retains
most original features of the cockpit instrumentation.
I would also like to ask anyone who can contribute to further
improve this site with images or additional information about the
Vampire or its instruments to contact me at aviation@watergeek.eu.
