 On 3 December 1945, a Sea Vampire piloted by Captain Eric "Winkle" Brown became the first pure-jet aircraft to land on and take off from an aircraft carrier.Vampires and Sea Vampires were used in trials from 1947 to 1955 to develop recovery and deck-handling procedures and equipment for the operation of aircraft without an undercarriage from flexible rubber decks on aircraft carriers.Deletion of the undercarriage would reduce the aircraft weight, allow extra fuel to be carried, and ease deck handling.