Description
The distinctive de Havilland DH.100 Vampire was designed to fulfil a wartime requirement for a small, lightweight jet fighter for the Royal Air Force. Although the prototype aircraft first flew in September 1943, the production aircraft arrived too late to see service in the Second World War. In spite of this, well over 3,000 were eventually produced and the aircraft enjoyed a relatively long service life by the standards of the day. Powered by a single De Havilland Goblin turbojet, the Vampire was capable of a maximum speed of 548 mph and had a service ceiling of over 40,000 ft. In common with many other RAF fighters of the day, armament was comprised of four 20mm cannon. The FB.9 was a tropicalised Goblin-3 powered F.5 fighter-bomber with air conditioning; 348 built, most by de Havilland, and some by Fairey Aviatyion.
The South African Air Force (SAAF) operated the de Havilland DH.100 Vampire as its first jet fighter, beginning in 1950. While the SAAF primarily operated the FB.5 and FB.52 variants, the FB.Mk 9 was a “tropicalized” version of the Vampire, equipped with air conditioning for warmer climates, and was used extensively in southern Africa by neighboring Rhodesia.
