Katherine Bickford

The de Havilland DH-100 Vampire F.3 was the first jet fighter to enter RCAF service in any significant numbers. It served to introduce fighter pilots to jet flying, cockpit pressurization and the tricycle landing gear.

RCAF Vampires served in both operational and air reserve units (400, 401, 402, 411, 438 and 442 squadrons) from January 1948 until retirement in June 1956 when they were replaced by the Canadair Sabre.

Of the 85 RCAF Vampires acquired in 1947-48, 25 were written off in crashes. Others were discarded after lesser accidents. Only 40 survived until withdrawn from service in 1956, although they remained on inventory until 1958.  They were eventually sold off to private firms; 15 former RCAF Vampires, through a commercial middleman, ended up in the Mexican Air Force. At least six Vampires survive in various Canadian museums.

The Vampire’s fuselage construction is of the same type of plywood/balsawood 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.

• Wing Span: 12.2 m (40 ft)
• Length: 9.4 m (30 ft 9 in)
• Height: 2.7 m (8 ft 10 in)
• Wing Area: 226 sq ft ( 20.99 sq m)
• Weight, Empty: 2,890 kg (6,372 lb)
• Weight, Gross: 4,754 kg (10,480 lb)
• Max Speed: 869 km/h (540 mph)
• Rate of Climb: 1,311 m (4,300 ft) /min
• Service Ceiling:  13,260 m (43,500 ft)
• Range: 1,175 km (730 mi)
• Power Plant: one de Havilland Goblin 2 centrifugal flow turbojet engine, 1,405 kg (3,100 lb) static thrust
• Armament: four 20 mm Cannons