The origins of the Vampire date back to 1941 when the de Havilland Company began investigating the possibility of building a turbojet engine along with a fighter aircraft to go with it. Consequently, de Havilland's Frank Halford developed the 2,700 lb thrust Goblin 1 engine that ran successfully for the first time in April 1942, work began on an airframe to go around it the following month. Built to British Air Ministry specification E6/41, the prototype of the DH100 Spider Crab (LZ548/G) made its first flight from Hatfield airfield, Hertfordshire on September 20, 1943 with Geoffrey de Havilland Jnr at the controls. A further two prototypes were built, the last of which (MP838/G) was fitted with what was to become the aircraft's standard armament, four 20 mm Hispano cannons mounted under the nose. By the time the first production aircraft flew on April 20, 1945, the unofficial name of Spider Crab had been dropped and the aircraft became the DH100 Vampire F.1. It also became Britain's second operational military jet and first single-engine jet fighter.
<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.flickr.com/people/88123769@N02">Bernard Spragg. NZ</a> from Christchurch, New Zealand
2013-12-29 10:48
<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/volvob12b/11748082893/">de Havilland DH.100 Vampire (2)</a>