DE HAVILLAND VAMPIRE TII

The DH100 vampire was the second jet fighter designed for service and was built around the H-1 Goblin turbo jet engine. The prototype was first flown on 20th September 1943. As a jet aircraft it was unique in that the front fuselage section was constructed like the Mosquito of plywood and balsa wood. Vampires were developed through a number of variants including carrier operations. In addition to the RAF, the aircraft were supplied to several foreign air forces. While the Vampire ended RAF service in the mid 1950s it remained in operational use in foreign service into the 1960s.