General Information

Serial #

N/A

Part Number

3

Total Parts

37

AKA

N/A

Patents

N/A

General Description

Aluminum; wood; paint; textile; synthetic materials.

Dimensions

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

Length

580.0 m

Width

135.0 m

Height

355.0 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 top along proper left side of leading edge reads: “KEEP OFF”; lettering on top on proper left side reads: “R.C.A.F./FUEL REF 34A/158”; lettering on top along proper left side of trailing edge reads: “KEEP OFF”; lettering on top along proper right side of tail boom reads: “INCIDENCE RIB 3”; lettering on underside on proper right side reads: “FIT NO 2 BOLTS”; lettering on underside on spoiler along trailing edge reads: “WARNING. KEEP AWAY/DURING OPERATION/OF DIVE BRAKES”; lettering on underside near tip reads: “ELECTRICAL/CONNECTIONS/INSIDE”; lettering on plaque on root side reads: “VAMPIRE/SERIAL NO./E.E.P. I089/DWG D003A/ISS. 5/INSP. E.E.P./[…]72/MODS/90 5 31 51/100 73 118 114/113 119”; lettering on fuse box lid on root side reads: “A.M./FUSE BOX TYPE B/REF. No 5C/549”; lettering cast on hinge on root side reads: “D00718”.

Missing

The artifact appears complete.

Finish

Silver exterior; yellow, blue, white, and red paint; shades of blue, green, and grey peeking where the silver paint is peeling; beige masking tape; light brown wood; white and brown rope.

Decoration

Painted yellow band with R.C.F.A. logo of a maple leaf inside two circles; dashed lines, some creating shapes; crown illustration molded onto fuse box lid.