General Information

Serial #

N/A

Part Number

1

Total Parts

37

AKA

N/A

Patents

N/A

General Description

Aluminum; paint; textile; glass/plexiglass; balsa plywood/wood; rubber; leather; synthetic materials; adhesive.

Dimensions

Note: These reflect the general size for storage and are not necessarily representative of the object's true dimensions.

Length

9.4 m

Width

12.2 m

Height

2.6 m

Thickness

N/A

Weight

N/A

Diameter

N/A

Volume

N/A

Lexicon

Group

Aviation

Category

Aircraft

Sub-Category

N/A

Manufacturer

AKA

deHavilland

Country

England

State/Province

Unknown

City

Hatfield

Context

Country

Canada

State/Province

Unknown

Period

Shipped to Canada for cold weather trials and serving with the RCAF, the artifact was subsequently passed on to the Ontario Science Centre in Toronto before being transferred to the Museum in 1968.

Canada

Arrived in Canada as a trial aircraft in 1946, the lone Vampire 1 was one of the first jet aircrafts to enter the RCAF squadron service alongside the Vampire 3s. It was the arrival of the Vampire with its D.H. Goblin engine that brought new techniques to de Havilland Canada’s post-war overhaul program at Downsview, Ontario. George Neal test flies one of the RCAF’s new Vampires in 1948.

Function

The de Havilland Vampire was primarily operated as an interceptor aircraft, and eventually as a fighter aircraft.

Technical

The production of the Vampire started just too late for it to see service in the Second World War. This very successful design was produced in several versions and flew with the air forces of more than 15 countries. In 1948, it was the first jet fighter to enter the RCAF. In Canada, as in other air forces, it introduced fighter pilots not only to jet flying, but also to cockpit pressurization and tricycle landing gear. The last Vampires were not phased out of the Swiss Air Force until the late 1980s. In developing the Vampire, de Havilland applied its expertise in wood construction to manufacture a fuselage of the same type of plywood/balsa wood sandwich used in the Mosquito. The Vampire’s twin-boom configuration enabled the jet tailpipe to remain short in order to extract as much thrust as possible from the somewhat low-powered engines of the day. The prototype Sea Vampire was the first jet aircraft to fly from an aircraft carrier.

Area Notes

Unknown

Details

Markings

Lettering on proper right side, from left to right, reads: “FILL TO LINE ON/TANK WINDOW WITH/ACCUMULATOR PRESSURE/RELEASE/HYD. OIL/MINERAL BASE/RCAF REF NO.34A/100”, “PULL OUT AND TURN”, “BREAK HOOD FOR/EMERGENCY RESCUE/CANOPY RAIL NOT/LOCKED IF RED SHOWS/PRESS/TO SLIDE/CANOPY BACK”, “TRESTLE”, “[…].8.1”; lettering on proper left side, from left to right, reads: “CANOPY RAIL NOT/LOCKED IF B[…]D SHOWS/B.S.”, “BREAK HOOD FOR/EMERGENCY RESCUE”, “TRESTLE”, “HYDRAULIC PRESSURE/RELEASE VALVE INSIDE/UNDER COCKPIT FLOOR”; lettering on top reads: “R.C.A.F./FUEL REF 34A/158”; lettering on plaque on back side reads: “POWER PLANT ASSEMBLIES/FOR THE NACELLE/VAMPIRE P.A ASS’Y NO.”; lettering on plaque on unit behind seat reads: “HYDRAULIC RESERVOIR/PT NO. 000608A/FLUID CAPACITY – 1 GALLON/FILL WITH FLUID SPEC. D.T.D. 585/ISS4/INSPECTION STAMP/SERIAL NUMBER 65355-5/EEP/267”; lettering stamped above seat reads: “X 662 F/AM2103/C 2128-2D;/HLD46/B00359/4”; lettering on plaque on proper left side of cockpit reads: “WARNING/CHASSIS/SPEED DURING &/AFTER LOWERING/NOT TO EXCEED/200 M.P.H./FLAPS/SPEED DURING &/AFTER LOWERING/NOT TO EXCEED/170 M.P.H.”; lettering on bottom left corner of right and left windows reads: “T.S.G/2-4G”. Écriture sur côté droit, de gauche à droite, indique : «FILL TO LINE ON/TANK WINDOW WITH/ACCUMULATOR PRESSURE/RELEASE/HYD. OIL/MINERAL BASE/RCAF REF NO.34A/100», «PULL OUT AND TURN», «BREAK HOOD FOR/EMERGENCY RESCUE/CANOPY RAIL NOT/LOCKED IF RED SHOWS/PRESS/TO SLIDE/CANOPY BACK», «TRESTLE», « […].8.1»; écriture sur côté gauche, de gauche à droite, indique : «CANOPY RAIL NOT/LOCKED IF B[…]D SHOWS/B.S.”, «BREAK HOOD FOR/EMERGENCY RESCUE», «TRESTLE», «HYDRAULIC PRESSURE/RELEASE VALVE INSIDE/UNDER COCKPIT FLOOR»; écriture sur le dessus indique : «R.C.A.F./FUEL REF 34A/158»; écriture sur plaque à l’arrière indique : «POWER PLANT ASSEMBLIES/FOR THE NACELLE/VAMPIRE P.A ASS’Y NO. »; écriture sur la plaque sur l’unité à l’arrière du siège indique : «HYDRAULIC RESERVOIR/PT NO. 000608A/FLUID CAPACITY – 1 GALLON/FILL WITH FLUID SPEC. D.T.D. 585/ISS4/INSPECTION STAMP/SERIAL NUMBER 65355-5/EEP/267»; écriture étampée au-dessus du siege indique : «X 662 F/AM2103/C 2128-2D;/HLD46/B00359/4»; écriture sur plaque du côté gauche de l’habitacle indique : «WARNING/CHASSIS/SPEED DURING &/AFTER LOWERING/NOT TO EXCEED/200 M.P.H./FLAPS/SPEED DURING &/AFTER LOWERING/NOT TO EXCEED/170 M.P.H. »; écriture dans le coin inférieur gauche des fenêtres à l’avant indique : «T.S.G/2-4G».

Missing

The artifact appears complete.

Finish

Silver exterior with green, yellow, black, grey, white, and red designs and elements; red and black lettering; predominantly black interior with yellow, red, green, white, and orange elements; brown leather; red, black, and white textile elements; silver coloured metal; beige paper.

Decoration

Hand-painted illustration of a dragon with 3 legs, a snake tongue, spikes along the back, and a pointed tail.